Zak Crawley endured a dismal outing in the Ashes series opener against Australia, registering ducks in both innings.
In England's second innings at Perth's Optus Stadium, Crawley was dismissed for zero in the very first over by the lethal Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.
Starc's delivery edged off Crawley's bat and was caught at slip by Usman Khawaja in a sensational catch that set the tone for Australia's dominant bowling performance in the first innings. This dismissal marked Starc's 24th wicket in the first over of an innings in Test cricket.
In the second innings, Starc dismissed Crawley again, this time with a tremendous catch of his own bowling, as the 27-year-old English batter left the crease without troubling the scorers.
Zak Crawley creates Humbling Record
Along with that,
Zak Crawley has become the first English opener to score a pair in a Test match since Michael Atherton in 1999. The former English batter scored a couple of ducks against South Africa in 1999.
England had set a modest first innings total of 172 after being bundled out by strong Australian bowling led by Starc, who recorded match-best figures of 7/58. Starc also took two more key wickets in the second innings along with England captain Ben Stokes taking crucial late wickets, but the visitors struggled against the disciplined Australian attack. Australia, despite their early setbacks and trailing by 40 runs at one stage in their first innings, fought hard to maintain dominance in the match.
In the second innings, England are currently 59 for 1 as Ben Duckett (28 off 37) and Ollie Pope (24 off 48) have steadied the ship. England, at the moment, are leading by 99 runs and somehow hold the advantage so far in this crucial encounter.
