Australia’s newly appointed Test captain Pat Cummins made a dream start to his captaincy stint as he led his side from the front with a first Ashes five-wicket haul to bundle England out for 147 runs on day 1 of the ongoing First Ashes Game at the Gabba.
Cummins who is playing his first Test as the Test captain of Australia since Tim Paine stepped down from the role in November, kickstarted with a brilliant note by claiming the prized wicket of Ben Stokes, and then there was no turning back. He then grabbed another four victims after lunch. He claimed the wickets of Haseeb Hameed, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, and Mark Wood to complete the five-wicket haul and ended with stunning figures of 5/38 in 13.1 overs.
The official Twitter handle of the International Cricket Council also lauded Cummins’ achievement that helped Australia bundle out England under 150 on the first day of the opening Test.
“What a start for Pat Cummins as Test skipper, he finishes with a five-wicket haul as England are bowled out for 147,” the ICC tweeted.
What a start for Pat Cummins as Test skipper, he finishes with a five-wicket haul as England are bowled out for 147 ?
Watch the #Ashes on https://t.co/MHHfZPQi6H (in selected regions)!#WTC23 | #AUSvENG | https://t.co/pR2hqnzR22 pic.twitter.com/YmWQzyJKaO
— ICC (@ICC) December 8, 2021
With this, he became only the second Australian skipper after George Giffen in 1984 to pick a 5-wicket haul in the first Test as skipper. He is also the first captain to pick up a 5-wicket haul in an Ashes Test since Bob Willis in 1982. He also joined an elite list of bowler-captains, who have taken a five-wicket haul that includes some of the legendary names like India’s Anil Kumble, West Indies’ Courtney Walsh, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori among others.
Earlier this year, England’s captain Joe Root also achieved this feat during a Test match against India. In 2019, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan also claimed a five-wicket haul in his debut Test as captain.
Meanwhile, talking about the match, after bundling out England under 150 runs, now Australian batters would look to take a healthy first-innings lead.
Also Read: 10 Best Tweets After England Got Bowled Out For 147 Runs In First Ashes Test
