Ashes 2023: Zak Crawley gets a lifeline, Australia missed the chance to take his wicket

Why you are reading this: The wait for the oldest rivalry in cricket is over the England cricket team is taking on Australia in the first Ashes 2023 Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The Aussies will be high on confidence after the WTC Final win against Team India. On the other hand, England has also been playing exceptionally well in Test cricket. English captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting-friendly pitch in Birmingham. 

3 things you should know

• England is playing Australia in the first Ashes 2023 Test 
• Australia is coming into the match after defeating Team India in the WTC 2023 Final 
• England will look forward to taking home the coveted 'urn' after eight years

Zak Crawley gets a massive graze

England opener Zak Crawley, who had been playing brilliantly in the first Ashes 2023 Test match from the first ball of Day 1, was opened by Scott Boland on the fourth ball of the 15th over. The ball pitched on a good length and went past the edge to Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey. 

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However, later when a deep analysis of the ball was done, it was found that Zak Crawley had edged the ball, and they found a knick in the ultra edge. The critical point here to talk about is that none of the players on the field, including the umpires, reacted to the incident or made a request for the DRS. 

Zak Crawley nicks it Australia didn’t reviews. #Ashes2023 #ENGVAUS pic.twitter.com/nfGp4SZyeO

— Md Shadab Akhtar (@md07shadab) June 16, 2023

England opts to bat in the first Ashes 2023 Test 

The England cricket team captain Ben Stokes won the toss in the first Ashes 2023 Test match and elected to bat first. The English team started off well after opening batsman Zak Crawley hit a boundary off the first ball of the Test match. However, the Aussies also struck early after Josh Hazlewood removed Ben Duckett for 12 runs off ten balls. The team, though, was pulled out of the early blow by Crawley and Ollie Pope as the duo added 70 runs in 86 balls. 

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