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Updated June 18, 2023

The Ashes 2023: Australia are in the driving seat

TL;DR

The Ashes 2023 started June 16 at Edgbaston. After Day 2, Australia are in the driving seat. They are only 82 runs behind the host

The Ashes 2023: Australia are in the driving seat

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The Ashes 2023 started June 16 at Edgbaston. After Day 2, Australia are in the driving seat. They are 82 runs behind England in the first innings. However, the Aussies will resume their innings today while Usman Khwaja gets closer to hitting his double hundred.

1st Innings of England

England's skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first in the historical Ashes. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett stepped in for the Three Lions to start their batting innings. Unfortunately, England had a bad start at their home ground. England lost their first wicket in the 4th over as pacer Josh Hazlewood drew the first blood of England. He picked up Ben Duckett in the 3.4 over. Ollie Pope, the following batter, tried to build a partnership with Zak Crawley. But they couldn't go far as Ollie Pope departed the crease after being LBW by Nathan Lyon. Besides, Zak Crawley was looking good, but his innings came to an end in the 26.4 over after scoring 61 runs. England were in deep trouble, but Joe Root came forward to rescue the team. He remained not out in the first innings. With seven boundaries and four over boundaries, Joe Root scored the highest 118 runs. Besides, Jonny Bairstow played a vital role in the lower order. He was very aggressive between the wickets. With 12 boundaries, Bairstow added 78 off 78 balls before leaving the crease. As the pitch became difficult for batters to bat, the English skipper declared their first innings in 393 runs despite having two wickets left.

1st Innings of Australia

David Warner and Usman Khwaja started Australia's first innings slowly. They were very defensive yet couldn't build a long partnership. David Warner was the first to return to the pavilion. He lost his wicket to Stuart Broad after picking up only nine runs. Stuart Broad hit again in his following ball in the same over. This time, Broad picked up Marnus Labuschagne. Experienced batter Steve Smith also failed to contribute much, leaving the pitch with only 6 runs. But Usman Khwaja was rock solid between the wickets. With Travis Head, Khwaja made a partnership of 81 runs to handle the situation. Both batters hit a half-century for each, but Travis Head lost his wicket to Moeen Ali after scoring 50. However, Khwaja continued adding runs with Cameroon Green. 72 runs came from their partnership. After that, Green departed the crease with 38 runs, while Khwaja has been leading the scoreboard with Alex Carey. Both Khwaja and Carey remained not out in 126 and 52 runs, respectively. Today, they will continue batting on Day 3 at Edgbaston.

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