England won the toss and elected to bowl after winning the toss in the fourth Ashes Test. The Boxing Day Test is being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England had already announced their playing 11 for this game and made two changes. Jofra Archer, who was ruled out of the series, was replaced by Gus Atkinson. Jacob Bethell was included in the playing 11 in place of Ollie Pope.
Australia decided to come to this game with a four-pacer combination. Australian captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Ashes, along with Nathan Lyon. Australia announced a 12-man squad for the game, and Smith replaced Cummins as the captain of the side. Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser were picked in the final playing 11.
Australia didn’t have a great outing with the bat as they were bundled out for 152 runs in the first innings. Neser emerged as the highest scorer for the team with a score of 35 runs off 49 deliveries. No other batter managed to cross the 30-run mark. Josh Tongue was the pick of the bowlers for England and took five wickets for 45 runs in 11.2 overs.
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England Continues To Struggle With The Bat
England lost their first four wickets for just 16 runs. A total of seven batters were dismissed for a single-digit score. Harry Brook was the highest scorer for the team and made 41 runs off 34 deliveries. Gus Atkinson scored 28 runs off 35 deliveries and was the next best batter for the team. Ben Stokes made a contribution of 28 runs off 35 deliveries.
Neser played a crucial role with the ball as well and took four wickets for 45 runs in 10 overs. Scott Boland took three wickets for 30 runs in nine overs. Mitchell Starc took two wickets, while the remaining wicket was picked by Cameron Green.
A total of 20 wickets fell on the first day of the match. Australia made four runs in the second innings before the day got concluded.
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