The opening day of the prestigious Ashes series between England and Australia began with a torrent of wickets.
SNPNEWS.IN Cricket Update (Gurmail Kamboj): The 143-year-old Ashes 2025 Test series between Australia and England kicked off today at Perth’s Optus Stadium. England won the toss and elected to bat first. However, under the leadership of Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, Australia proved that decision wrong by bundling out England for just 172 in only 32.5 overs.
England’s batsmen Harry Brook (61 off 52), Ollie Pope (58 off 46), Jamie Smith (22 off 33), and Ben Duckett (20 off 21) were the only ones to offer some resistance; the rest of the team surrendered meekly to the Australian bowling attack. Mitchell Starc destroyed England with figures of 7/58 in 12 overs, while Brendan Doggett took 2/27 and Cameron Green chipped in with 1/10.
After dismissing England so quickly in just 32.5 overs, Australia had a golden opportunity to post a massive first-innings total — but they squandered it completely.
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Australia’s batsmen looked equally helpless against England’s bowling. By the end of Day 1, Australia had reached 123/9 in 39 overs. They had already lost 4 wickets for just 31 runs, and recovering from those early blows proved nearly impossible.
Only Alex Carey (26 off 26), Cameron Green (50 off 24), and Travis Head (35 off 21) managed any meaningful contributions; the rest of the lineup failed to deliver.
England’s bowlers dominated, led by captain Ben Stokes who ripped through the Australian batting with sensational figures of 5/23 in 6 overs. Jofra Archer took 2/11 and Brydon Carse picked up 2/45.Thanks to this bowling performance, England ended the day 49 runs ahead (England 172, Australia 123/9).
On Day 2, England will look to quickly take Australia’s last wicket and then set a big target in their second innings to push for a victory in this first Test.