England pacer Mark Wood bowled with fire during the first innings of the third Ashes Test going on against Australia at Headingley in Leeds. England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and invited Aussies to bat first. The hosts had the Aussies onthe mat by picking four wickets, by the time lunch was called. Steve Smith, playing in his 100th Test, scored a jut 22 off 31 balls. Earlier, David Warner lost his wicket again to Stuart Broad as he edged him to slips, becoming the first victim fr the English. 


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The highlight of the first session was Wood, who was playing his first Test in this series. He bowled with great discipline and of coure, great pace. He consistently crossed the 90 mph mark on the speed clock. One of the fastest deliveries records on the opening day of the Test match was 96.5 mph. A few deliveries later, a ball bowled with 94 mph speed crashed into the stumps of opening batter Usman Khawaja and went for a walk. Khawaja was outdone by pace over there and his reaction as well as facial expression told the whole story.


Watch Wood destroying Khawaja’s wickets with a 94 mph delivery here:



As one can see, the ball was fast and it came swung into Khawaja as well, giving him no space or time to control his shot and adjust to the line. The pace on the ball made all the difference. 


Broad took Warner and Smith. Wood sent back Khawaja. Marnus Labuschagne lost his wicket to Chris Woakes, who is also playing his first Test in this Ashes. Aussies are on back foot on the opening day of the Leeds Test. They will pin their hopes on in-form Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, who is playing his first match of Ashes 2023.