{"id":6632,"date":"2025-12-26T13:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T13:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6632"},"modified":"2025-12-26T13:57:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T13:57:48","slug":"australia-lead-england-after-20-wickets-fall-at-boxing-day-ashes-test-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6632","title":{"rendered":"Australia lead England after 20 wickets fall at Boxing Day Ashes Test | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Australia slightly ahead of England after frenetic opening day in which both teams were bowled out cheaply at the MCG.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 26 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">26 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Australia finished marginally \u200con top at the end of a chaotic opening day of the fourth Ashes Test after an extraordinary \u200d20 wickets fell in \u200dfront of a record crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Australia nightwatchman Scott Boland was four not out with Travis Head yet to score as the hosts went to stumps at four for no loss in their second innings, carrying a 46-run lead over England.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>With England bowled out for 110 in reply \u2060to Australia\u2019s first innings 152, it was the highest number of wickets in a single day at the MCG since a \u200brecord 25 fell in the 1902 Ashes.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Tongue took a career-best 5-45 to skittle Australia on the \u200dgrassy pitch after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field first, but the tourists\u2019 batters were then guilty of an even more egregious collapse.<\/p>\n<p>The constant loss of wickets was watched by a crowd of 93,442, eclipsing the stadium\u2019s previous record of 93,013 for \u200da day of cricket \u2060at the 2015 World Cup final.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4196337\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4196337\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4196337\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251226__892J2Z2__v1__HighRes__CricketAusEngAshes-1766736422.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Ben Stokes reacts.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4196337\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">England\u2019s Ben Stokes leaves the field after being dismissed on the opening day at the MCG [Martin Keep\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>England, who have already lost the series after three straight defeats, came into the match under a cloud following reports that some players had taken a \u201cstag party\u201d attitude to a trip to Noosa between the second and third tests.<\/p>\n<p>But they would have been well pleased with their work in the field early on, rattling through Australia in 45.2 overs to bring tea early.<\/p>\n<p>The alarm bells were soon ringing, however, as their top order collapsed with Australia\u2019s seamers running riot.<\/p>\n<p>Opener Ben Duckett was out for two with a \u200bloose, unbalanced drive at Mitchell Starc, which sent a leading edge straight to Michael Neser \u200cat mid-on.<\/p>\n<p>New number three Jacob Bethell, the replacement for the dropped Ollie Pope, managed only one before Neser had him caught behind, while opener Zak Crawley edged Starc to Steve Smith in the slips to be out for five.<\/p>\n<p>Root was then out for a 15-ball duck, his second of \u200cthe series, nicking Neser behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harry Brook and Stokes dug in for a 50-run partnership to trim the deficit to 86 runs but England were then blown out of the water \u200cby a triple-strike from Boland.<\/p>\n<p>The pacer took 3-11 as he trapped Brook lbw \u2060for 41, bowled a swinging Jamie Smith through the gate for two and had all-rounder Will Jacks caught behind for five.<\/p>\n<p>That left England 77 for seven, with Stokes to carry the burden with the tail. He was unable to play rescuer again, though, falling for 16 with an edge off Neser \u200cthat flew head-high to Smith at first slip.<\/p>\n<p>Neser grabbed a fourth wicket when Carse was caught for four, slogging to Boland at long leg.<\/p>\n<p>Gus Atkinson and Tongue\u2019s 10th-wicket stand of 19 runs appeared heroic after what had gone on before, much \u200das Neser\u2019s top score of 35 was for the hosts.<\/p>\n<p>But it was all over when Cameron Green bowled Atkinson for 28, just in time for England\u2019s bowlers to get one wicketless over at the Australian batters before stumps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia slightly ahead of England after frenetic opening day in which both teams were bowled out cheaply at the MCG. Published On 26 Dec 202526 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Australia finished marginally \u200con top at the end of a chaotic opening day of the fourth Ashes Test after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}