Ashes 2021-22, Gabba Test: Mitchell Starc's 85-year series first stunner sparks social media carnage

It was a delivery that will go down in the Ashes folklore. The Ashes Test Series got underway with a bang at The Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, on Wednesday (December 8) when pacer Mitchell Starc uprooted the leg stump of England opener Rory Burns of the very first ball of the 2021-22 series. Starc was on the money, as he caught Burns off-guard and delivered a painful blow to the England team. 

England's Dawid Malan and skipper Joe Root followed suit within six overs of the first Test. Australian captain Pat Cummins then struck to claim the prize wicket of Ben Stokes caught in the slip cordon by Marnus Labuschagne. At Lunch on Day 1 of the Gabba Test, England is at 4-59.

The morning's special also rekindled memories of the left-arm pacer's famous dismissal of Brendon McCullum in the first over of the 2015 World Cup final at the MCG. It was also the 13th time Mitchell has struck in the opening over of a Test innings since the beginning of 2014, nudging him past England pacer and Ashes rival James Anderson (12 first-over wickets) in the same period. Starc also has to his credit 19 victims in the first over of an innings in ODIs, with Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga (12) placed at second.

For those interested, Mitchell Starc became just the second bowler in 85 years to take a wicket with the first ball in an Ashes series, as he sparked a carnage at The Gabba. In 1936, Australia's Ernest McCormick dismissed England's Thomas Worthington for a catch to wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield at Brisbane. Starc's ripper first up on Day 1 of The Gabba Test sparked a social media frenzy, with cricket lovers lauding the pacer over the incredible start to the high-voltage series.

 

Interestingly, it was only a few days ago that legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne called for Mitchell Starc's axing for the Gabba Test, with his preference for in-form Western Australian Jhye Richardson to be picked in the playing XI. Following Starc's 'thunderbolt' on the very first delivery of the series, the former Australian great was heavily trolled on social media.

 

Also read: Ashes 2021-22: Here's how the numbers game plays out