All the statistical landmarks of a high-octane opening day of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston
Sampath Bandarupalli16-Jun-2023393 for 8 dec England’s total in Birmingham is the second-highest by any team on the first day of an Ashes Test since World War II, behind their 407 all out in 2005, also at the Edgbaston.407 Runs aggregated by England and Australia on Friday. These are the joint-second most runs scored on the first day of an Ashes Test since World War II. Birmingham was the host for the 2001 Ashes Test, where 427 runs were scored on the opening day, while the same venue saw England making 407 on the first day in 2005.
78 Overs batted by England in their first innings. It is the fourth-shortest first innings of a men’s Test match to have been declared on the first day. It is also the shortest declared opening innings of an Ashes Test, beating Australia’s 200 for nine after batting for 65.3 eight-ball overs (Equivalent to 87.1 six-ball overs) in Melbourne in 1937.Pakistan declared after 44.5 overs of play against England in the 1974 Lord’s Test, having lost nine wickets for 59 on an uncovered pitch that had soaked in the rain during a five-hour delay. England also declared only after 58.2 overs earlier this year in the day-night Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui, in order to have a bowl at the hosts under the floodlights.
5 Number of 350-plus totals by England in the last 12 months that have come at a run rate of five or more. There had been only 13 such innings prior to this period, including two such scores by England in the 2005 home season.Only one team other than England has made more than 350 runs while scoring at five runs an over in the past year – 425 for four in 80 overs by Bangladesh against Afghanistan, which took place on the same day in Mirpur.
4 Instances of Ben Stokes declaring his team’s first innings before they had batted for 100 overs (or 600 balls). Only New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming has done so more often – five times. This includes four Tests where at least 100 overs of play were lost due to weather.4 Hundreds for Joe Root in the Ashes. His unbeaten 118 in Birmingham was his first since August 2015 in Nottingham. Between the two tons, Root had failed to convert any of the 12 fifties he scored in 31 innings in the Ashes.ESPNcricinfo Ltd307.69 Root’s strike-rate while playing the reverse-sweep and scoop against pace bowlers in the last 12 months in Test cricket. He has scored 40 runs off 13 such strokes with four fours and four sixes, all while being dismissed only once.2001 Prior to Zak Crawley’s boundary off Pat Cummins, the last instance of the first ball of an Ashes Test match being hit for a four: Michael Slater off Darren Gough at Headingley. Slater was also the last batter to hit the first ball of an Ashes series for a boundary before Crawley, which he did off Phil DeFreitas at the Gabba in 1994-95.
