‘Bach Gaye haarne se, Aaye bade bazball wale’ – Fans react as Day 5 of 1st Ashes Test gets delayed due to rain

England squared off against Australia in the first Test of Ashes 2023 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. On the final day of the game, Australia needs 174 runs to win the game while England needs seven wickets to take the lead in the series. Australia opener Usman Khawaja and Scott Boland went unbeaten on Day 4.

However, the start has been delayed due to rain in Birmingham. It has been pouring in Edgbaston, and the weather prediction predicts that things will improve after lunch. So the bad news is that the first session is washed out as teams are set to take lunch at 12:30 PM local time. Meanwhile, the good news is that there may still be two full sessions, which is more than enough time for this match to conclude.

On Day 4, Australia bundled up hosts for 273/10 in 66.2 overs as Australia skipper Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon clinched four wickets each. This gave visitors a great chance to clinch the game as they started well while chasing 281 runs. Opener David Warner and Usman Khawaja added 61 runs for the first wicket. Warner, in his innings, scored 36 runs off 57 balls with the help of four boundaries.

The top order crumbled after a great start

Ollie Pope dismissed Warner and opened floodgates as Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschange also got dismissed in cheap. Ace pacer Stuart Broad dismissed both as Smith scored 6 runs off 13 balls with the help of a boundary and Labuschange scored 13 runs off 15 balls with the help of three boundaries.

Notably, in this Ashes Test Labuschange was dismissed by Broad twice as in the first innings he registered a golden duck against Broad. Broad spoke about Day 5 and said, “There are still two results on the table I think. The intent from ball one was pretty clear. We are not a results-driven team in any way, shape, or form and you almost add pressure on yourself when you set targets of what you want to achieve. This could have been a draw on this type of pitch so us forcing the game forward makes a result possible tomorrow.”

“I think there is supposed to be a bit of cloud around tomorrow. We saw how much it zipped around when there was a cloud the other day. If you can get lucky as a bowling group and get an hour of that you can bring the game home pretty quickly. We feel pretty confident we can go and get 7 wickets and if we turn up tomorrow and there is a bit of cloud, I will have a smile on my face”, he further added.

Here is how fans react to the rain-interrupted first Ashes Test: