Peter Siddle’s fifer rocks England on Day 1 of 1st Ashes Test; hosts take tea at 185/6

Australia edged ahead of England on Day One of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, as the hosts lost four wickets, all to Peter Siddle, in the second session to take tea at 185 for six.

Peter Siddle celebrates taking the wicket of Kevin Pietersen right after lunch on Day One © Getty Images

By Jaideep Vaidya
 
Jul 10, 2013
 
Australia edged ahead of England on Day One of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, as the hosts lost four wickets, all to Peter Siddle, in the second session to take tea at 185 for six.
 
Siddle was the wrecker-in-chief as he got the wickets of the talismanic Kevin Pietersen and the dependable Jonathan Trott early in the post-lunch session, to add to his dismissal of Joe Root from the first session.
 
Both wickets followed the pattern that had been set right from the beginning of play, where the Australian bowlers produced one good delivery, between many looseners, that ended up picking wickets. Siddle was a little wayward in the over he got Pietersen, before a tighter-length delivery that was shaping away from the right-hander invited a drive, but found the edge to second slip.
 
Eight overs later, Trott was to chase an even wider delivery from Siddle and chopped it back onto his off-stump. It was a poor shot, especially from Trott who is (in)famous for his tenacity. The England No 3 almost knocked the other two standing stumps off with his bat in disgust as Australia gained a stranglehold.
 
It took a gritty partnership from Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow to temporarily stem the leak for the hosts. The duo brought up the second 50-plus partnership of the innings that included some graceful drives from the bat of Bairstow, while Bell was the cautious one. However, Siddle produced a gem of a delivery to dismiss the latter — one that angled in and then shaped away, taking the edge on the way. Wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior wasn’t to last long and gave Siddle his fifth of the day with a ball that again did not deserve a wicket. It was short and wide outside off-stump; Prior’s eyes lit up as he looked to smack it over cover, but could only find the leaping Phil Hughes.

Earlier in the day, England took lunch at 98 for two after winning the toss and batting first.

Read the first session report here.
 
Brief scores:
 
England 185 for 6 (Jonathan Trott 48; Peter Siddle 5 for 50) vs Australia.
 
Full Scorecard
 
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