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Australia and England locked horns in the fifth and final Test of the Ashes 2023 at Kennington Oval, London on Thursday, July 27. Australian captain Pat Cummins won the final toss and invited England to bat first amid overcast conditions. 

There was a lot to play for both the teams as Australia are aiming at their first Ashes series victory in England since 2001 while England are looking to continue their unbeaten record at home Ashes series since 22 years.

The invitation to bat first was happily accepted by the hosts as the openers Zak Crawley (22) and Ben Duckett (41) got involved in a 62-run stand for the first wicket. With the partnership looking threatening for Australia, Mitchell Marsh came to his team’s rescue as he got Duckett strangled down the leg side. The dismissal brought two more successes for England as Crawley and Root (5) returned to the pavilion cheaply leaving their side reeling at 73/3. 

Harry Brook stabilised the innings playing in his usual manner and took England to 131/3 at Lunch. Moeen Ali (34) along with Brook added 111 runs for the fourth wicket as they pressed on the accelerator smashing Australian bowlers all around the park. Todd Murphy destroyed Moeen Ali’s stumps to break the partnership for his team.  

Australia once again made further inroads into England’s batting line up with the narrow opening they got with Moeen’s wicket. Mitchell Starc (Brook and Ben Stokes) and Josh Hazlewood (Jonny Biarstow) picked three wickets in quick time to leave England reeling on 212/7. A 49-run stand between Chris Woakes (36) and Mark Wood (28) took England to 283. 

Mitchell Starc dazzled with the ball for Australia with figures of 4/82 in 14.4 overs while Toddy Murphy (2/22) and Josh Hazlewood (2/54) also chipped in with two wickets each.

As Australia began their innings, the fans got to see another cat and mouse battle between David Warner and Stuart Broad. The opener managed to survive against his nemesis and put on a 49-run stand for the first wicket with Usman Khawaja. However, Warner (24) once again got out after a good start getting dismissed for the third consecutive time against Chris Woakes. 

Marnus Labuschagne walked in at number three and batted through the remaining overs to take Australia to stumps. Australia finished Day 1 on 61/1 after 25 overs with Khawaja (26*) and Labuschagne (2*) at the crease.