Death. Taxes. Mitchell Starc is tearing teams apart with the pink ball. More or less any cricket-loving regular joe would tell you that these are the only three constants in life. Bowling at the Gabba, Starc once again broke through the England batting line-up and took another five wickets in his Test career. The scenario felt familiar, almost routine, as if the pink orb itself had accepted its destiny the moment it settled into Starc’s left hand.
Starc, who now has the most Test wickets among left-arm fast bowlers in history after surpassing the legendary Wasim Akram, looked in menacing touch on Thursday, December 4. On the first day of the Test match, he bowled with a ferocious whip and sent down rockets that removed six England batsmen. Every delivery hummed with pace and menace, reminding everyone why twilight at the Gabba is regarded as one of the most treacherous passages of play in world cricket.
AUS vs. ENG 2nd Test Day 1: Highlights
But what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? On Thursday, Starc’s piercing deliveries repeatedly found the bat of veteran Joe Root, who looked determined to score in one of the toughest tasks in world cricket, a day-night Test match at the Gabba. Root arrived at the crease with a composure that seemed almost out of place in the pink-ball chaos of the Test.
As Starc threatened the edges of the England batters, Joe Root dug deep into the surface and batted patiently to bring up his maiden Test century in Australia. Root, playing his sixteenth Test match Down Under, finally got the albatross off his neck with a stunning century that reflected his courage, perseverance and discipline. It felt like long overdue dues, a moment Root had been chasing for years of near misses, heartbreak and harsh Australian scrutiny.
Root’s unbeaten 135 off 202 balls took England to their best total against Australia in a day-night Test in Australia. England made 325 for the loss of nine wickets, also the highest total by any visiting team in a pink-ball Test in Australia since 2020. It was a total that carried not only statistical weight, but also emotional weight, as it showed that England can hold their own in conditions that have historically broken them.
Otherwise, it was another hit and miss day from Bazball’s approach. Zak Crawley kicked things off with a brilliant 76 as he dropped his wicket trying to pull a high ball. Then came Ben Stokes and Harry Brook, two of the most important batsmen in England’s middle order, threw away promising starts at unnecessary moments on Thursday. Their release underscored the fine line between positive intent and reckless execution, a line that often determines the fate of baseball on alien surfaces.
Joe Root’s innings was the only effort to keep England level in the contest during Mitchell Starc’s devastating spells on Day 1 of the second Test. Root not only withstood Starc but absorbed the pressure and slowly transferred it back to the Australian bowlers, turning a perfect pink-ball evening for Australia into an unexpectedly close match.
Starc vs England Batters
It was two deliveries from Starc that shaped his eighteenth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. The first burst came with the new ball when he kicked Duckett to the slips and forced an inside edge from a hesitant Pope who dragged the ball onto his stumps. The ball flexed, swung and hissed across the crease, almost as if Starc was molding the elements at will.
Starc’s third wicket came when, for reasons that are still hard to explain, Harry Brook attempted a wild dive during a difficult twilight period and ended up giving Steve Smith a simple catch in the slips.
The final burst came late on Day 1 when Starc almost went through the lower order. He removed Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Cars in a two-over spell that almost sent England reeling again. The ball swung under the lights and for a moment it felt as if England were about to collapse in familiar fashion.
And England would probably have been knocked out on the first day but for Jofro Archer’s blistering counter-attack in the closing overs. Archer hit two sixes and a boundary in a whirlwind 32 not out from 26 balls to guide England to a total that will give them confidence heading into Day 2. His innings acted as a release valve and ensured that Root’s masterpiece did not go to waste.
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In the middle of all the chaos was Joe Root, who batted and drove the ball with ease. On a few rare occasions, he even sliced deliveries behind the wicket in such subtle and mesmerizing fashion that the packed Gabba crowd, including Australia’s most passionate supporters, gasped in appreciation.
Root brought a delicacy to the brutality of the contest, a sense of classic Test match elegance that reminded fans why he is regarded as one of the best batsmen of his era.
Chants of “ROOOOOOOOOOOOOT” echoed around the stadium for several moments, creating an unforgettable atmosphere for the veteran batsman, who was often questioned for his return to Australia. Each song felt like a wave that lifted him higher and strengthened his determination to rewrite the story that had followed him for almost ten years.
The hundred on Day 1 of the second Test also took Root’s tally of runs in Australia to a thousand, achieved in sixteen Tests, which includes nine fifties and eventually a century. It marked a personal triumph that ran deeper than the numbers, as it symbolized Root’s long journey of adjustment, stubbornness and ultimately mastery in a country where he repeatedly fell short.
As the match progresses, Root’s hundred may well prove to be the decisive blow in this Ashes series. Many fans arrived at the Gabba expecting Mitchell Starc to cut through England with the pink ball, just as he had done so often before. Instead, they witnessed something much more compelling.
An unstoppable force met an immovable object in Joe Root and in this contest Root showed that Bazball can endure. Proving that when England combine intent with discipline, they can stand firm against the most formidable challenges in Test cricket, he turned a day that was expected to belong to Starc into one that finally brought balance between bat and ball in this Test series.
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
December 4, 2025
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