Replacing an out-of-touch James Anderson, England's tearaway pacer Mark Wood brought the Headingley crowd on its feet with his blinding speed with the new ball in the first session. Wood kept Australian batters on their toes with the fastest over ever recorded at Headingley (since the speed gun came into existence and records began).
Wood spits fire
In the seventh over of Australia's innings, Wood broke the shackles and bowled with the speed of 91mph, 93kmph, 95kmph, 93kmph, 94kmph and 93kmph. The pace troubled Marnus Labuschagne who was still new to the crease after Stuart Broad got David Warner's wicket for the 16th time. He kicked it up a notch and bowled another exiting over with speeds of 93mph, 95mph, 95.6mph, 95mph, 94mph and 92mph.
The thunderbolts from Wood continued in his first spell. In the end, it was too tough for Usman Khawaja to cope with. With a tiny hint of inswing Wood bowled a delivery that clocked 95mph. Khawaja attempted the on-drive but he was too slow and after a faint edge it flattened the leg stump.
Wood’s record spell
In his first spell, Wood bowled four overs, conceded two runs, bowled three maidens and picked up one wicket.
In his second spell, Wood almost got the better of Travis Head but Jonny Bairstow could not take the catch while diving to his right. In the first session, Australia had 91/4 on the board after 26 overs.
The crowd got behind Wood as he pushed the Australian batters back against the wall. His first spell is the second-fastest spell on England soil since ball-tracking data began in 17 years ago.
Replacing Josh Tongue in the side, Chris Woakes bowled tight lines as well. Woakes forced an outside edge off Labuschagne's bat as Joe Root took a simple catch. Labuschagne scored 21 runs from 58 deliveries including four fours.
Smith’s big feat
Smith achieved a rare feat as well despite getting out early to Broad. He surpassed Allan Border on the list of most runs in the Ashes history. With 3,226 runs, he is the third-highest run-scorer after Don Bradman (5,028 runs) and Jack Hobbs (3,636 runs).
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