{ "id": "124541", "author": "23", "cnmid": null, "title": "Ashes 2023: Australia Make Steady Start After Root's Ton Steers England To Surprise First-Day Declaration", "lang": "en", "series": "1", "cup_year": "2023", "article_type": "General", "excerpt": "Ashes Series: Australia made a steady start in their first innings after Joe Root's excellent century steered England to a surprise declaration on an intriguing opening day of the first Ashes 2023 Test, here on Friday.", "subtype": null, "editor1": "

Ashes Series<\/strong>: Australia made a steady start in their first innings after Joe Root's excellent century steered England to a surprise declaration on an intriguing opening day of the first Ashes 2023 Test, here on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Root's unbeaten 118 not out, his 30th century in Test cricket, was the stand-out contribution on a surface that offered little for the bowlers, and was the 32-year-old's fourth hundred against Australia but his first since 2015. His ton drew him level with Matthew Hayden and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the all-time list, just three behind Alastair Cook's England record of 33.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

England opted for a first-evening declaration with the score on 393\/8 in their first innings after scoring at a rate of more than five-an-over across the day. And Australia's openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner will resume on 14\/0, 379 behind, having survived a tricky mini-session at the end of Friday's play.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first with Zak Crawley setting the tone for an entertaining opening day when he creamed a drive to the boundary off the very first delivery of the series from Pat Cummins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

And Crawley was instrumental in getting England off to a fast start, racking up his 11th score of 50 or more in Test cricket before falling on the cusp of lunch to an excellent Scott Boland delivery for a 73-ball 61.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Crawley's was one of three wickets to fall in the opening session. Josh Hazlewood -- replacing Mitchell Starc in the one change from the XI who won the ICC World Test Championship Final -- had Ben Duckett (12) caught behind early on. And Nathan Lyon removed Ollie Pope for 31 with the first of his 4\/149 on the day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

England began the afternoon session well, with Root and Harry Brook forming a 50-run partnership before the youngster fell in bizarre fashion. A leg-side delivery from Lyon struck Brook on the thigh pad and looped up and out of the eye-line of the batter, keeper and close fielders, before dropping the other side of Brook and spinning back onto the stumps.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

It was a highly unfortunate dismissal for Brook, who was forced to depart after a promising 32. And his captain was soon to follow, with Ben Stokes edging behind off Hazlewood for 1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Australia's tails were up with the score at 176\/5, but Root and Jonny Bairstow batted beautifully to get England up to a reasonable score on a good batting track.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Bairstow was undone when he charged down the wicket to Lyon, stumped for a run-a-ball 78. And Moeen Ali's 18-run cameo ended in similar fashion as Alex Carey whipped off the bails.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

However, some solid contributions from Broad and Robinson gave Root some assistance to get to his hundred, which the former England captain did in style.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A reverse sweep and a ramp shot, both of which went for six, had the Edgbaston crowd on their feet in an innings that saw Root playing largely within himself, reaching his ton with a flicked single and finishing on 118* from 152 balls.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Root played a few shots as the clock ticked towards 1800 hrs (England time) to set up a declaration that came as a surprise to many around the ground.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

And England pushed hard for a breakthrough to no avail in a four-over spell before the close, with Usman Khawaja and David Warner set to return to the middle with the score on 14 without loss on Saturday morning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Also Read: <\/b> Live Scorecard<\/a><\/p>

Brief scores: England 393\/8 decl. (Joe Root 112 not out, Zak Crawley 61; Nathan Lyon 4-149, Josh Hazlewood 2-61) lead Australia 14\/0 by 379 runs.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Image-Of-Ashes-2023-Australia-make-steady-start-after-Roots-ton-steers-England-to-surprise-first-day-declaration.jpg", "alt_img": "Ashes 2023: Australia Make Steady Start After Root's Ton Steers England To Surprise First-Day Declar", "alt_title": "Ashes 2023: Australia Make Steady Start After Root's Ton Steers England To Surprise First-Day Declar", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "Ashes 2023: Australia Make Steady Start After Root's Ton Steers England To Surprise First-Day Declaration On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Ashes Series: Australia made a steady start in their first innings after Joe Root's excellent century steered England to a, Ashes 2023: Australia Make Steady Start After Root's Ton Steers England To Surprise First-Day Declaration.", "seo_keywords": " David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Joe Root", "tag": null, "tagging": " David Warner,Usman Khawaja,Josh Hazlewood,Nathan Lyon,Joe Root,", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "story-of-ashes-2023-australia-make-steady-start-after-roots-ton-steers-england-to-surprise-first-day-declaration", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "1", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "1437", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "1", "created": "2023-06-17 10:04:55", "updated": "2023-06-17 10:04:55", "img_from": "Image Source: Google", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "Joe Root, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, David Warner", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "37", "jio_date": "2023-06-17 10:04:55", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "1", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": "Select", "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/story-of-ashes-2023-australia-make-steady-start-after-roots-ton-steers-england-to-surprise-first-day-declaration-124541" }