 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Ashes 1st Test PHOTOS: England in charge on Day One
Stuart Broad bagged five wickets to put England in charge on the first day of the first Ashes Test, as Australia were restricted to 273 for eight, at the Gabba on Thursday.
-Australia's villain No 1: Stuart Broad
PHOTOS, Ashes 1st Test: England take Day One honours
The hosts were in a spot of bother at 153 for 6 at tea.
Broad, cast as the pantomime villain in Australia after his failure to walk at Trent Bridge earlier this year, took five for 65 to silence the boos and catcalls that had greeted him at the Gabba.
Australia on the ropes as Broad silences boos
Opener Chris Rogers was the first victim of the bounce Broad managed to generate from the Gabba track, but it was the triple dismissals of Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and David Warner around lunch that shifted the momentum firmly England's way.
Australia on the ropes as Broad silences boos
Watson, whose preparations for the series were disrupted by a hamstring injury, looked like reaching lunch with his wicket intact until Broad again found some bounce in the last over before lunch.
Australia on the ropes as Broad silences boos
Australia won the toss and decided to bat on a bright, sunny morning at the Gabba and the booing of Broad, branded a "smug Pommy cheat" on the front page of the local Courier-Mail newspaper, contributed to a festive atmosphere.
England's Matt Prior kept wickets through both sessions without any obvious discomfort after passing a fitness test on a calf strain.
England, who won the first series of this year's double header 3-0, are chasing a fourth successive Ashes triumph and a first victory at the Gabba since 1986.