Australia captain Pat Cummins returned with 5/38 on Day 1 in Brisbane© AFP
Pat Cummins made a brilliant start to his captaincy career. The right-arm seamer became the first captain since England’s Bob Willis to get a five-wicket haul in an Ashes Test in 1982. Cummins picked up 5 for 38 on Day 1 of the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba in Brisbane on Wednesday. Cummins, who became Australia’s first full-time fast-bowling captain less than a fortnight before the first Test, led from the front after England won the toss and opted to bat first on a Gabba pitch that had plenty to offer for the seamers. Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood functioned well in tandem as Australia bowled England out for 147 in just 50.1 overs on the first day.
Australia got off to the best possible start when Mitchel Starc cleaned up England opener Rory Burns in the first ball of the Test match. Josh Hazlewood then joined the party from the other end, accounting for Dawid Malan in the fourth over.
The right-arm seamer gave a body blow to England when he set up their captain Joe Root to send him packing without troubling the scorers.
With England reeling after the opening burst from Starc and Hazlewood, Cummins came in to make sure there was no recovery whatsoever. He got one to bounce from good length to find the outside edge of Ben Stokes’ bat to start off his captaincy career on the right note.
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
Resuming the second session at 59/4, England were dented straightaway as Cummins got the better of opening batter Haseeb Hameed (25) and this brought Jos Buttler to the middle. The right-handed Buttler played a counter-attacking knock, however, his 39-run knock finally came to an end in the 41st over after being dismissed by Mitchell Starc.
“It was a dream start really — it wasn’t a bad toss to lose and I thought we all bowled really well and did our jobs,” Cummins said.
Promoted
“To keep them to 150 was a tremendous start. I was really proud of how consistent and composed everyone was. Personally, it was nice to get a couple of wickets at the end to make it a five-for — it was just a really good start,” he added.
Australia are yet to start their innings as rain and bad light did not allow further play after England were bowled out.
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