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Mark Wood snatched the award for the Australian batting squad on his return to the England team on day one of the Third Ashes Test at Headingley on Thursday.
Wood started the day by ripping off the stump of Usman Khawaja’s leg and continued his rampage as he brought back Alex Carey, Mitchell Stark, Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy to restrict Australia to 263.
Earlier, Australia’s Mitchell Marsh capitalized on England’s sloppy catch to smash a brutal, game-changing century on the first day Thursday of the Third Ashes Test at Headingley.
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 to the side.
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 with five wickets!Take a bow, Mark Wood 👏
🏴 #engfaus 🇦🇺 | IGcom pic.twitter.com/nyb0Sibi1G
– England Cricket (englandcricket) July 6, 2023
The hosts started the must-win game with a belly fire and it was good when Marsh, making his first appearance in nearly four years as an injury substitute, caught Chris Woakes to slip out with only 12 to his name.
Had Joe Root taken the chance to regulate just after lunch, Australia would have been in trouble at 98-5, but Marsh made it all out as he took them to 240-4 before tea.
Marsh fought back with his unrestrained aggression after his deferral, hitting 17 fours and four sixes while scoring 118 on runs with the exact ball.
The pain finally stopped for England in the final over before the break, Woakes reaching Marsh when an inside edge deflected into Zak Crawley across the groin pad. But significant damage has already been done.
England dictated terms in the first session, with Wood converting an incredible burst of blistering pace to impress the Leeds crowd and Stuart Broad hitting twice, but in the end they were let down by their hands.
In addition to Root reprieving Marsh, two chances slipped through wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow’s fist. Back in the spotlight after stumping himself at Lord’s, Bairstow put up two chances.
The first was a difficult dislocation of Steve Smith, but the second should have been just a simple catching from Travis Head, who had 9 and went on to reach 39 not out.
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