Pat Cummins becomes first captain in 39 years to take Ashes fifer as Australia dominate Day 1 of Gabba Test

Pat Cummins claimed a five-wicket haul on his first day as Australia's 47th Test captain, as England were dismissed shortly before tea on Day one of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba for 147.

Pat Cummins Test captain. (Image Credit: Twitter/@ICC)
By Arnab Mukherji | Dec 8, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Australian pacer Pat Cummins became the first skipper to take a five-wicket haul in the Ashes in 39 years, on Day 1 of his journey as the captain of the national team. Cummins delivered a fantastic performance on the opening day of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. The pacer claimed a five-wicket haul as England were dismissed shortly before tea for 147. Australia did not get a chance to bat after rain washed out proceedings soon after. Jos Buttler was the top run-getter for England, accumulating 39 runs with Ollie Pope (35) the second highest run-scorer.

Cummins is now only the second Australian captain after George Giffen in 1984, to record a 5-wicket haul in his first Test as skipper. The pacer further became the first skipper to register a fifer in an Ashes Test since Bob Willis in 1982. Cummins recorded figures of 5-38 leading the way for the hosts, with quality assistance from Mitchell Starc (2-35), Josh Hazlewood (2-42) and Cameron Green (1-6). Starc set the stage supremely early, swinging a full delivery around Rory Burns’ pads to bowl the English opener off the very first ball of the match. Burns was relegated to his sixth Test duck this calendar year.

It is further just the second time in the history of the Ashes that a batter has been dismissed off the first delivery of a series. Starc also enjoys the unique distinction of having claimed a wicket in the first over of a Test innings for the 13th time since 2014.

“The boys are really excited and quite relaxed”

Cummins sounded confident going into the encounter, stating that the buzz has been amazing.

“I feel great. The buzz has been amazing. The boys are really excited and quite relaxed. We were probably going to have a bat but I think it is 50-50 here, I don’t think it really matters. There’s going to be a bit for us. We are really excited to get out there. I thought one of Broad or Anderson would play each Test. Broad obviously bowled well to Davey, but it’s a different country. They are a good XI, we have to play well. Any debut match … want to make it special for him. Alex has been around the Australian team for 5-6 years. Great guy, works really hard,” he said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“Prepared and planned very well for this series”

England skipper Joe Root admitted that it was a difficult decision to rest James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

“Very good seam attack, it was a difficult decision to make (to rest Anderson and Broad). There’s five Tests, it’s important that all of them are ready to go when called upon. Immensely ready, we’ve prepared and planned very well for this series. So grateful to get the opportunity to play a series like this and we want to make the most of it,” stated Root.

Lineups:

England (Playing XI): Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.





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