England and Australia are doing battle in the first Ashes Test of the summer at Cardiff. Follow the action with our ongoing report and micro-highlights.
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The hosts closed day one on 343-7 after winning the toss and choosing to bat, with Joe Root undoubtedly the star of the show with 134, well supported by 61 from Gary Ballance and 52 from Ben Stokes.
How will the drama develop on day two?
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England vs Australia, 1st Ashes Test: Day 1 report & micro-highlights
Morning: Moeen shows England’s batting depth
England added 87 runs for the final three wickets as they frustrated Australia during the morning session of the first Ashes Test in Cardiff to post a first-innings total of 430.
Moeen Ali made 77 and Stuart Broad stuck around for 18 after surviving a controversial claimed catch by Adam Voges during the inevitable spell of Mitchell Johnson chin music.
Australia’s openers then negotiated a tricky nine-over spell of fine new-ball bowling prior to lunch to go into the interval on 26-0, with Chris Rogers unbeaten on 15 and David Warner five not out.
An inside edge saved Warner when Broad convinced Alastair Cook to review an unsuccessful lbw appeal. The England seamer had earlier benefited from the third umpire when he was handed a reprieve.
After fending a Johnson bouncer straight up in the air, Voges stooped, while evading Broad, to take what appeared to be a smart low catch, but replays showed that the ball had been grounded.
The Nottinghamshire star helped England reach 400 before he was caught behind attempting a slog sweep off Nathan Lyon (2-69), who Broad will have deemed light relief from the Aussie pace attack.
Moeen played positively on his way to a half-century in his maiden Ashes Test, and Broad’s dismissal encouraged him to free his arms further until he edged Mitchell Starc to Shane Watson at slip.
And Starc (5-114), who is nursing an ankle injury sustained yesterday evening , completed his five-wicket haul when he cleaned up James Anderson for one. Mark Wood was left seven not out.
Afternoon: England get Smith but Rogers marches on
Rogers equalled a Test-match record of seven successive half-centuries during a second session which ended honours-even with Australia on 145-2, trailing England by 285 runs.
The tourists were threatening to get on top at 129-1, but some clever bowling and captaincy saw Steve Smith, the world’s number-one ranked batsman, miscue Moeen straight into the hands of Cook for 33.
Cook had earlier taken a much more difficult catch to get rid of Warner for 17. Anderson got one to go across the left hander and the opening batsman dived sharply to his right at first grabber.
England’s skipper had only just finished celebrating when he was forced to leave the field after suffering an embarrassing injury. The dangers of being a slip fielder have never been more evident!
Batting hero Root took over the on-field captaincy for up to an hour, but could not mastermind a breakthrough as Smith steadily found his feet and Rogers progressed without offering even a half-chance.
The 37-year-old was unbeaten on 74 when the players left the field, with Michael Clarke having joined him at the crease after Smith’s dismissal and raced to 11 courtesy of a couple of streaky edges.
Evening: Late wicket puts England on top
The momentum of the Test match perhaps swung in England’s favour with the late wicket of Voges as Australia closed day two at the Swalec Stadium on 264-5.
The hosts took three wickets in the evening session to leave the Aussies trailing by 170 runs, regretting that so many of their players got starts and then got out.
Rogers was the only man who kicked on after passing 50 for the seventh successive time in Tests, but the veteran fell short of three figures as he edged behind on 95 to give Wood a well-deserved scalp.
Voges arrived and dug in as Clarke (38) motored on, but the visiting skipper paid for trying to attack Moeen when the much-maligned spinner took an impressive return catch to round off his excellent day.
Still behind by 223, the fifth-wicket stand of Watson and Voges promised to be crucial to the close-of-play picture, and the pair made steady progress despite persistent and disciplined England bowling.
The pressure that England built paid dividends 20 minutes prior to stumps as Voges (31) picked out Anderson with a loose drive off Ben Stokes, who had bowled five overs for seven prior to his wicket.
Watson (29) and nightwatchman Lyon (six) made it to play unscathed, but Australia do not bat as deep as their opponents and England will be hopeful of making more inroads in the first hour tomorrow.
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