Ashes | Twitter hails Supremo Starc as opening hour blitz leaves Root broken and England in disarray

Yesterday at 9:48 AM

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Buckle up English fans, it is that time of the year again. Ben Stokes' men arrived with high expectations in Perth for yet another shot at claiming the Ashes Down Under but it took an over for Mitchell Starc to throw a spanner in the works, a little before the quick delivered the telling blow.

Mitchell Starc dispatched Joe Root for a seven-ball duck in the Ashes opener at Perth Stadium on Day 1

Lady Luck favoured England early at the Perth Stadium on Friday as Ben Stokes won the coin flip and opted to bat first on a hard green deck at a venue where a team is yet to win a Test while chasing. However, the move did not take too long to backfire as Mitchell Starc began with a wicket maiden to send Zak Crawley opening, before a searing full delivery later in the same spell ended Ben Duckett's riveting stay for 21. The left-arm quick's task was more than done as vice-captain Ollie Pope and ex-skipper Joe Root found themselves out in the middle earlier than they would have liked, but the day was about to get significantly worse for the travelling English contingent.

Root walked out to bat in the seventh over with two balls still to go in Starc's over and immediately found himself on the backfoot when a mistimed flurry of the hands saw him get beaten wide of the stumps by pure pace. The hostilities continued after Pope played out the entirety of Scott Boland's over and Starc tempted Root again with a wider one, only for the veteran to shoulder arms on this occassion. The spearhead persisted as two more leaves followed before dropping his length shot and forcing a scuffed shot from his counterpart. The entire stadium could sense a missile headed straight towards the stumps, perhaps including Root, but the inevitability of it made no difference to the result. Steaming in from over the stumps, Starc delivered the perfect punchline to his setup on a length angling across the right-hander, leaving Root frozen on the crease. The 34-year-old could only prod his bat forward with stiff hands as the Kookaburra razed his outside edge and headed straight to the slip cordon where Marnus Lanbuschagne bagged a sitter.

After all the talk of Root on-track to score his maiden hundred Down Under on the tour, so much so that the likes of Matthew Hayden have wagered walking around the ground naked on it, Twitterati was thoroughly amused to see how the first chapter of the narrative played out.

Root's gone

— Symonds (@Symonds716624)

7 ball one

Joe Root out for a 7-ball duck
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E)

Missed it

Joe Root missed his first century in Australia by just 100 runs.
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy)

You need to stay awake, mate!

Joe Root getting out under 10 can keep me awake.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer)

Fiery opening spell

Starc’s plucked out 3 top order batsmen already, including Root, in fiery opening spell. England in the ropes in the first hour itself of the Ashes!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)

No party