Nottingham: The oldest rivalry in World Cricket was unfolded as England selected to bat first in the opening test match of the five-match Ashes series against Australia at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. It was the tumbling wickets which fetch maximum amount of attention on the day one and almost indicated that the Test won't go into the fifth day at Nottingham. It was the five-wicket haul from Peter Siddle which pushed England onto the back-foot as they were bundled out for just 215 runs in their first innings. But the duo of Steven Finn and James Anderson came hard at the Aussies and took couple of wickets each to push Australia to 4/75 on day one.
Australia got off to a decent start as Shane Watson scored three boundaries in quick succession but was lured by the fuller delivery from Finn which was pitched outside off. Ed Cowan followed his footsteps as he was dismissed on the very next ball. James Anderson turned out to be a show-stealer as he crafted the beautiful delivery which got the better off Michel Clarke, who departed for duck and Australia were looking in serious trouble at 3/22.
However, Steve Smith dealing in boundaries which took away the pressure off Chris Rogers. Rogers was undone by Anderson as he trapped in front of the wickets. Aussies ended the day with 4/75 after 21 overs with Smith being the top-scorer for them as he remained unbeaten at 38 alongside Philip Hughes, who was batting at seven.
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England: 215 all out ( Jonathan Trott 48, Jonny Bairstow 37, Joe Root 30, Ian Bell 25, Stuart Broad 24, Peter Siddle 5/50, James Pattinson 3/69, Mitchell Starc 2/54 )
Australia: 4/75 (Steven Smith 38*, Philip Hughes 7*, Shane Watson 13, Chris Rogers 16Michael Clarke 0, James Anderson 2/ 25, Steven Finn 2/37)
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Earlier, it was not so good batting from England as they allowed James Pattinson and
Peter Siddle run through them. Pattinson gave the first blow when he got out English skipper Alastair Cook, who contributed just 13 runs. Joe Root and Jonathan Trott put up a good fight as they added 51 runs to the second-wicket stand. Root was uprooted by Siddle who bowled a good yorker to send him back to the pavilion. England went into the lunch with a decent score of 2/98.
The start of second session turned out to be a nightmare for England as they lost the wicket of Kevin Pietersen. Trott kept his cool and started knitting a partnership with Ian Bell before he played a half-hearted shot which got him played on at 48. England kept getting odd boundaries as Johnny Bairstow and Ian Bell managed to break the shackles after the loss of couple of quick wickets.
The resistance of Bairstow and Bell came to an end as Siddle bowled a brilliant delivery to drop curtains over the partnership of 54 runs. Bell departed after scoring 25 runs and was followed by Matt Prior which took the count of Siddle to five wickets in this match. With just 6/185 on the board, England were looking under some serious pressure and Mitchell Starc did well to pick up two wickets in two balls but it was Pattinson who nailed the English innings for just 215 runs as he got Graeme Swann out for duck.