BackStuart Broad burns Australia in fourth Ashes test
It was the first time in the Test history that the first five wickets of the match had fallen within 25 balls of the start
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All it took England was little over an hour, and that was pretty much that. Australia bowled out for 60 in 18.3 overs. Stuart Broad the destroyer in chief with figures of 8/15. You read that right.
At the start of the Test, much was made of James Anderson’s absence and its likely impact on proceedings, especially from an England point of view. But Stuart Broad put all those fears to rest once Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bowl first on a green wicket.
What followed was a morning to either remember or forget, depending on which side you’re. In his devastating spell of fast bowling, Broad was constantly seeking answers from an Australian top order that’s talented no doubt but fragile, and surely shorn of confidence.
Chris Rogers was the first to go. A perfect delivery to get rid of the otherwise resolute opener: full on off-stump, and just as he moved, the ball angling in to induce the outside edge with captain Cook making no mistake. In walked the in-form Steve Smith, who lasted three deliveries and was out edging a catch to to Joe Root at third slip. Australia 10/2 at the end of the first over.
Mark Wood, Anderson’s replacement for this Test, checked in a couple of balls later, removing David Warner with an unplayable delivery. Back of a length, with the ball just nipping back off the seam to take Warner’s inside edge en route to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Warner gone for a duck. Australia reduced to 10/3 in just eight deliveries.
More damage was to follow. Eight balls later, Broad struck again, this time removing Shaun Marsh for another duck. Pitched on a perfect length from Broad, slightly fuller outside off-stump, the ball drew Marsh onto the front foot, angled away and the edge flew to Ian Bell at second slip. England’s catching was on top. Australia 15/4.
Next to go was Adam Voges and this was in most part thanks to an unbelievable catch by Ben Stokes at fifth slip. The delivery from Broad dragged Voges forward, and the right-hander went hard at the delivery. The ball flew to fifth slip, where Stokes threw himself to his right and grasped the ball as it flew past him. Thec crowd watched in utter disbelief. Australia, 21/5.
Exactly two overs later, it was time for under-pressure Australian captain Michael Clarke to depart. A terrible shot, almost compelled into playing that rash stroke, given Broad’s immaculate bowling. Broad hurled it wide, and Clarke threw everything into an angry slash that Alastair Cook jumped and grasped in goalkeeper fashion. Australia, 29/6. Broad five wickets in 19 deliveries.
Wicketkeeper Peter Nevill was next to go although, to his credit, he did try hanging in there. But given the sort of bowling he was up against, it was only a matter of time. Steve Finn, the hero of the Edgbaston test, dismissed Nevill for 2, with the score at 31. The less said about Nevill’s footwork to that fullish delivery from Finn, the better. The ball nipped slightly back off the seam and crashed onto Nevill’s off stump.
The bowlers soon joined the procession. First, Mitchell Starc, who again edged one to Root at third slip for 1. Australia, 46/8. Two balls later, Australia lost their ninth wicket, with Mitchell Johnson departing in similar fashion, edging a good length delivery. The same combination —caught Root bowled Broad — was at work.
The number 10 (Josh Hazlewood) and 11 (Nathan Lyon) did try and delay the inevitable, as they say, playing out five-anda-a-half overs before Lyon fell, caught by Stokes at sixth slip. Australia all out for 60.
While Australia’s pathetic batting performance will be the talking point of the day, and perhaps the Test match, it was England’s superior bowling that did them in. The fuller length maintained by Broad and other bowlers created uncertainty in the minds of the batsmen, almost provoking them to play at everything on offer, and in doing so, edge the ball.
Also, England’s slip catching was perhaps at its best in this Test, given their woes at the start of the summer against New Zealand.
They made it look rather easy in the end.
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