The day-night Test in Brisbane started with England winning the toss and electing to bat. Pat Cummins missed and Australia opted for an all-pace attack, sidelining Nathan Lyon for only the second time at home since 2012.
Starc produced a wicket in the very last ball of his first over, dismissing Ben Duckett for a golden duck with a full outswinger that took the lead and flew to Marnus Labuschagne at slip. In his next over, he sent Ollie Pope back for another duck as the England batsman chopped the delivery onto his stumps.
With the wicket, Starc now has 83 wickets in Day-Night Tests, the most of any bowler in the world. He is 40 wickets ahead of his teammate Cummins, who is in second place with 43 wickets. Furthermore, with the wicket of Duckett, the left-arm seamer became the first ever player to take 20 wickets against a single team (England) in pink-ball Tests.
View the list of bowlers with the most wickets against one team in pink-ball Tests
20* – Mitchell Starc v England
17 – Starc vs West Indies
16 – Shamar Joseph vs Australia
16 – Alzarri Joseph vs Australia
Starc equals Wasim Akram’s record
Starc’s breakthrough also helped him equal Wasim Akram’s 414 Test wickets, making him the highest wicket-taker among left-arm pacers. He achieved this feat in 102 Tests, faster than Akram, who played 104 matches. England started the second Ashes Test by electing to bat first, but they got off to a poor start thanks to Starc’s opening spell, with both Duckett and Pope removed. From there, Zak Crawley and Joe Root stabilized the innings. Despite Australia’s rapid attack, the pair built a strong partnership and pushed England to 98/2 by Tea break.
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