England got off to a horrible start in the first Test of the 2021-22 Ashes against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane on Wednesday. The visiting side lost four wickets in the first session, with veteran pacer Josh Hazlewood being the best Australian bowler. Hazlewood picked two wickets in the opening session while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc got one each. Cummins, who is leading Australia for the first time in Tests, sent back England all-rounder Ben Stokes to claim his first wicket as captain.
Cricket Australia also shared a video of Pat Cummins' first Test wicket on social media.
"Aye aye, skipper! Pat Cummins' first Test wicket as captain is the dangerous Ben Stokes! #OhWhatAFeeling #Ashes," wrote Cricket Australia in a tweet.
Watch Video:
Cummins bowled a brilliant inswinger to Stokes, which stunned the all-rounder and the ball flew to the second slip after touching the outer edge of his bat. Marnus Labuschagne made no mistake in taking a brilliant catch to remove England's No.5.
Stokes is playing his first match after taking a break from the sport citing mental health issues earlier this year. The all-rounder looked in great touch and also smashed a boundary off the Australian captain, two balls before he was dismissed.
Earlier in the day, Starc became only the second bowler since 1936 to strike on the first ball of The Ashes series. The veteran pace spearhead knocked Rory Burns' wicket on the first ball of Day 1 of the Gabba Test.
The last bowler to do so was Australia's Ernie McCormick in 1936 when he dismissed England's Stan Worthington for a first-ball duck. Interestingly, that was also played at the same venue- The Gabba, Brisbane.