The Australians left no stone unturned to mark the arrival of Ashes 2021-22 in grand style.
On the opening day of the first Test at Gabba, the Aussie pace attack demolished the English batting line-up as the tourists slumped to the lowest first-innings total of an Ashes series since 1997.
England were bundled out for 147 before dark clouds washed out the final session in Brisbane. The chief architect behind England’s rock bottom performance was newly-appointed Australian skipper
Pat Cummins, who went on to claim his first five-wicket haul as the leader of the Aussie Test side.
The highly-anticipated contest started with under-fire
Mitchell Starc (2/35) dismantling opener Rory Burns’ leg stump on the first ball of the match to send shockwaves to tourists camp. It was just the second time in Ashes history that a wicket was fallen with the first ball of an Ashes series.
Soon after,
Josh Hazlewood (2/42) packed
Dawid Malan’s innings, followed by a perfect set-up dismissal of England captain
Joe Root to reduce the visitors at 11/3 in six overs. As if this wasn’t enough, Cummins – who picked up his first Ashes fifer – struck in the 13th over by claiming the prized scalp of all-rounder
Ben Stokes.
England reached lunch at 59/4, hoping to make a comeback, but Cummins had some other plans as he dismissed opener
Haseeb Hameed (25) in the slips in the first over of the second session.
Jos Buttler (39) and
Ollie Pope (35) tried to steady the ship by forming a 52-run partnership until Starc came back and removed the wicketkeeper-batter. Just moments later, Aussie all-rounder
Cameron Green (1/6) bowled a bumper to get rid of Pope to claim his first Test wicket.
Soon, Cummins sent back
Ollie Robinson (0),
Mark Wood (8) and
Chris Woakes (21) to complete his impressive five-wicket haul. The rain eventually washed out the final session without a single ball being bowled.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
A bowling captain has picked up a 5 for on captaincy debut! Well done
@patcummins30 ???
#Ashes — Ashwin ?? (@ashwinravi99)
December 8, 2021
Day 1 at
#GABBA had it all. The toss. Aust would have batted first if they won it too.Was a good toss to lose. Starc first ball knocks over Burns. Green’s 1st test wicket, Hazlewood relentless & then the skipper
@patcummins30 5 fa ! Nothing like
#ashes Hurry up day 2
@FoxCricket — Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne)
December 8, 2021
Pat Cummins First Aussie Fast bowling captain to take a 5 wkt haul on debut 5/38 ?
Good bowling changes ?
Great catching especially big Josh?
#Ashes pic.twitter.com/lRUIiUbdFc — Damien Fleming (@bowlologist)
December 8, 2021
Pat Cummins takes his first five-wicket haul against England.
#AUSvENG #Ashes pic.twitter.com/Nlepm4MR6x — CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
December 8, 2021
Pat Cummins becomes the first captain to take a five-wicket haul in an
#Ashes Test since Bob Willis in 1982 ?
pic.twitter.com/pF0F1PYnGj — ICC (@ICC)
December 8, 2021
Coupla Pat Cummins stats while it’s raining. After today’s 5-38, he’s hitting some heights among Australians in Test cricket:
– Best average (21.18) in 58 years
– Best strike-rate (46.2) in 113 years
#Ashes — Adam Burnett (@AdamBurnett09)
December 8, 2021
Five wickets on Test captaincy debut for Pat Cummins but couldn’t just continue celebrating his haul. Had to quickly seek Steve Smith to get his suggestion for what roller he wanted to be used before Australia start their innings
#Ashes pic.twitter.com/GD6OKUHwBi — Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07)
December 8, 2021
Five-wkt hauls in the first Test as Aussie captain
6/155 – George Giffen at MCG 1894
5/38 – Pat Cummins at Brisbane 2021
#Ashes #Ashes2021 — Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman)
December 8, 2021
Pat Cummins Consistency Stat Alert… Cummins has taken at least 3 wickets in each of his last 17 Tests, tying the all-time Test record for most consecutive three-wicket Tests by a seam bowler (with Glenn McGrath).
#Ashes2021 — Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket)
December 8, 2021
Fantastic from captain
@patcummins30 what a start.
@CricketAus — Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar)
December 8, 2021
Pat Cummins First Aussie Fast bowling captain to take a 5 wkt haul on debut 5/38 ?
Good bowling changes ?
Great catching especially big Josh?
#Ashes pic.twitter.com/lRUIiUbdFc — Damien Fleming (@bowlologist)
December 8, 2021
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