TOP SPIN AT THE TEST: Stuart Broad removes David Warner for 17th time, Ben Stokes passes another milestone and Moeen Ali becomes third England spinner to take 200 Test wickets
Travis Head and Mitch Marsh held off England to extend Australia’s fragile lead to 142 runs after two days of a third gripping Ashes test at Headingley on Friday.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith squandered a perfect batting track against a depleted England bowling attack by gifting their wickets after tea to Moeen Ali.
Head, on 18, and Marsh, on 17, scored 26 runs together in the last 12.1 overs to advance Australia to 116-4 in its second innings at stumps.
England were all out for 237 before tea after captain Ben Stokes muscled 80 runs and shepherded the tail to get them within 26 runs of Australia’s first total.
Mail Sport’s LAWRENCE BOOTH takes a look at the big stats from the first day at Headingley.
England’s Stuart Broad (right) celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia’s David Warner
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Broad removes Warner again
Stuart Broad removed David Warner for the 17th time in Tests, leaving only two other bowler batsman combinations ahead of them.
Glenn McGrath got rid of Mike Atherton 19 times, and England’s Alec Bedser dismissed Australia’s Arthur Morris 18 times.
Atherton also lost his wicket on 17 occasions to Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.
Stokes passes another milestone
The fourth of Ben Stokes’s five sixes made him the 16th England player to pass 6,000 Test runs.
Of the 15 above him, only Kevin Pietersen has a higher strike-rate: 61 to Stokes’s 59.
Moeen joins the 200 club
By removing Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in successive overs, Moeen Ali became only the third England spinner to move to 200 Test wickets, behind Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255).
Wood is a big hit
Mark Wood became the first player to hit his first ball for six in an Ashes Test since Ian Botham at Edgbaston in 1985.
His eight-ball innings was also the fastest 24 in Test history, beating nine by Australia’s Adam Gilchrist.
Pat Cummins has now dismissed Joe Root 10 times in Tests, two clear of the next on the list, fellow Australians Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc.
Australia’s Steve Smith equalled Ian Botham’s record of 54 Ashes catches in the third Test
High five for Smith
Steve Smith becomes the first non-wicketkeeper to hold five catches in two Test innings.
There have been 14 instances in all, with Smith also holding five at Cape Town in March 2018 — a Test more famous for his use of sandpaper.
He also equalled Ian Botham’s record of 54 Ashes catches.
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