On Day 2 of the first Test in the Ashes 2023, Australia started their turn with 14 runs and 0 wickets. Early in the day, Australia played carefully for a few overs. Then, England struck twice in a row when Stuart Broad got rid of David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne. After the first two wickets fell quickly, Steve Smith, England’s enemy, went to the crease and once again looked sure that he could get a big score against his second-favorite team, after India.
Smith and Khawaja added 38 runs to make the third wicket look dangerous. When skipper Ben Stokes saw that Smith was going to make a big score, he came on and got Smith in front of the stumps in his second over. After thinking for a while, the referee on the pitch, Marais Erasmus, put up his finger.
Smith wanted to look at the decision again because he didn’t agree with it, but he got three reds on ball tracking, which made the decision stand out.
He left for 16 as England scored a big win right before lunch.
Ben Stokes conjures up a special moment there to get rid of Steve Smith #Ashes23 #BenStokes
— Anand Datla 🇮🇳 (@SportASmile) June 17, 2023
After Smith was out, Travis Head (50 off 63 balls) and Usman Khawaja put on 81 runs together to steady the game. Head was out of the game because Moeen Ali caught him at mid-wicket. But Khawaja kept up his great hitting and got to 50.
Broad’s double-wicket over got the Edgbaston fans going.
Stuart Broad got the crowd at Edgbaston going when he got rid of David Warner for the 15th time in Tests. The Australian opener tried to hit a wide ball with a fancy drive, but he only managed to edge it back onto his stumps. Broad also got big fish Marnus Labuschagne on the next ball, when he got the crowd behind him and bowled while there was a loud roar from the crowd.
The seamer pitched the ball up to Labuschagne, asking him to play. The ball hit Labuschagne’s outside edge and went right to Jonny Bairstow, who made a great catch by jumping to his right. Australia was suddenly 32/2 after 11 overs.
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