The Day 4 of the first Ashes 2023 Test resumed with England scoring quick runs and pushing Australian bowlers on the backfoot from the very start of the play. Although Australia dismissed Ollie Pope (14) cheaply, Joe Root and Harry Brook contributed 46 runs each and steadied the innings for England.
English skipper Ben Stokes joined the party as well and added crucial 43 runs to the team’s total. However, Aussie bowlers made an impressive comeback after lunch and bundled out England for 273. Both Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon picked four wickets each for Australia and played a significant role in restricting the hosts from attaining a big lead.
In reply, with just 281 runs to defend, England failed to start well with the bowl until Ollie Robinson got them their first breakthrough by dismissing David Warner (36) in the 18th over. Soon after the dismissal of Warner, Stuart Broad stepped in as the game-changer for England and handed Australia two major blows in the form of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.
Broad trapped Labuschagne on the third ball of the 22nd over by bowling an outside-off length ball swinging away from Labuschagne. The Aussie batter ended up edging the ball to the wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow in pursuit of defending it. Notably, this was the second time Broad dismissed the current world no. 1 ranked Test batter in the same match.
BROAD STRIKES! 🔥
Marnus Labuschagne is back in the hutch! #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/6uM161QtcH
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 19, 2023
On the other hand, the wicket of Smith came in the 24th over with a similar kind of delivery but a bit fuller. Smith couldn’t resist himself throwing the bat and edged it to the wicket-keeper. Broad was pumped up after the dismissal and was seen running over the field in excitement.
Broady is on one here… 🤩
He entices Steve Smith into the drive and he's nicked it!
Australia 3 down 👀 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/QFTdSrkzN0
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 19, 2023
Speaking of the match, Australia are currently in a stable position despite losing a few wickets in quick succession. The Aussie team finished Day 4 on 107/3 with Usman Khawaja (34) and Scott Boland (13) still on the crease.