The Ashes 2023: Mitchell Marsh makes a remarkable comeback, 3rd Test (Day-1) Match Report (England vs Australia)

Day-1 of England vs Australia’s 3rd Test in the Ashes 2023 at Headingley’s, can be dedicated to Australia’s all-rounder Mitchell March, who made a stunning comeback in the test cricket after almost four years since the Ashes 2019. Marsh played brilliant centurion knock of 118 off 118 balls acting as an anchor to Australia’s stumbled first innings which got wrapped up at a total of 263 runs on the scoreboard. Moreover, he claimed one wicket as well to give a tough start to England’s first innings which ended up at 68/4 at stumps.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-1): How the day started off for Australia

The day started off with England winning the toss and deciding to bowl first. Australia got a stumbling start to its first innings as it lost four wickets at a score of 85. First one being, David Warner, who fell prey to Broad when he got a thick edge on a good length delivery and got caught by Crawley at the second slip at score of 4. After losing a quick first wicket in the very first over, Australian side seemed to be on a backfoot. The second opener, Khawaja gave away his wicket at a score of 42 by getting a inside edge guiding the ball onto the stumps.

Moving further a mere 19 runs, Australia lost its third wicket in the form of Labuschagne, who on a brilliant delivery by Woakes, got caught by Root positioned at the first slip. The next shocker for the Aussies came soon as Smith got caught behind on a full length delivery by Broad. The Australia seemed to be in big trouble as they lost their four most crucial wickets in a quick succession. On the other side, England were proving their decision of bowling first to be right.

The Ashes 2023, 2nd Test (Day-5): Remarkable innings by Marsh

As Smith left, Marsh joined as the new comer with Travis Head and both the batters started playing sensibly to build a strong fifth wicket partnership. Both added 155 runs together to the total and took Australia to a score of 240. Marsh not only anchored Australian innings but also failed the plans of England’s bowlers to restrict Australia to a much lower score as he dealt in boundaries and sixes. His outstanding knock included 17 fours and 4 sixes with an astonishing strike rate of 100.

It is worth noting that Marsh made his comeback to test cricket after a good gap of almost four years since he last made his appearance in England vs Australia, The Ashes 2019. Marsh’s fabulous innings ended just before tea, at an individual score of 118 off 118 balls, when he got a thick edge to get caught by Crawley at the second slip on a delivery by Woakes.

Talking about England’s bowling attack, Wood remained the most successful bowler as he grabbed 5/34 which included the crucial wickets of Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins & Alex Carey. On the other end, Woekes and Broad claimed 3/73 & 2/58 respectively, breaking the back bone of the Australian batting line up.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-1): England gets the initial blows

Coming to England’s first innings, they got a stumbling start as their initial four wickets where routed by Australian bowlers at a score of just 68 on the board. England lost their first wicket at a score of 18 when its star batter Ben Duckett got thick edge on a delivery by Cummins and got out as Carey who took a magnificent catch. Hardly 4 more runs were added to the total when another in-form batter Harry Brook fell prey to Cummins when played a half-hearted shot which got him an edge leading to catch at the second slip by Smith.

Situation become more painful for England when at a score of 65, Zak Crawley, who appeared set on the pitch, lost his wicket to ace all-rounder Marsh, who delivered a full length ball getting edge off Crawley’s bat and guiding the ball to the first slip where he was caught by Warner.

Australia maintained its dominance on day-1 of the third Ashes test as England, having scored 68-3 at stumps, is trailing Australia by 195 runs with skipper Joe Root & Jonny Bairstow stood at the wicket unbeaten.

BRIEF SCORE: Day-1 (3rd Test), The Ashes 2023
Australia: 263/10 (Marsh 118, Head 39, Wood 5/34, Woakes 3/73)
England: 68/3 (Zack Crawley 33, Joe Root 19*, Cummins- 2/28, Marsh 1/9)

England trail by 195 runs at stumps

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-1): Match Details

• Venue: Headingley Stadium, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
• Dates: 06 Jul – 10 Jul
• Toss: Won by England, Chose to Bowl first
• Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) & Nitin Menon (IND)
• TV umpire: Joel Wilson (WI)
• Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
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