England pacemaker Stuart Broad said his side are quite confident taking Australia’s remaining 7 wickets in the ongoing 2023 first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. He feels that even though they are on top of their game, they need to be right as the opposition is pretty dangerous when it comes to issuing a challenge.
The first Test of Ashes 2023 is set for an exciting finale. The game is balanced with only three sessions to go. While Australia need 174 runs, England are 7 wickets away from victory, but they would have the momentum on their side having already removed David Warner, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
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After England rallied for 273 runs in the second innings, setting Australia a target of 280 runs, they came under a bit of pressure as openers Usman Khawaja (34*) and David Warner (36) sewed 61 runs to the wicket opening session in the last session of Day 4.
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Ollie Robinson drew first blood on his side when he took out David Warner to get his team back in the game. But after that it all turned to Stuart Broad as he looked almost unplayable and he bowled some exceptional lines and lengths which worried Australian batsmen.
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Stuart Broad was in charge, as he first removed Marnus Labuschagne and then followed up with the wicket of Steve Smith in two fantastic deliveries. This put England in the lead as they finished Day 4 on a high and were hoping for a great result on Day 5.
Stuart Broad said it is a hard working pitch and bowlers need to create pressure and hit hard. He commented that they are delighted with the three wickets they have taken, but that they cannot take things lightly.
As quoted by Sky Sports, he said: “Everything is set to be a fantastic day. Obviously we are delighted to have Warner, Marnus and Smith back in the arena because they are world class players. But we know that the Australians have a lot of danger ahead, so we have to hit the nail on the head.
“I don’t think any hitter will come up and say this is a fantastic pitch to hit. It is turgid and difficult to time the ball. And no bowler is going to say that he’s not particularly charging or moving. It’s a hard working field, you have to create pressure and hit the field as hard as you can.
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Ashes 2023: We feel pretty confident we can go and get 7 wickets – Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad went on to say that they are a results oriented team and want to make a result possible. He added that with cloudy conditions forecast for the 5th, he will put a smile on his face.
He said: “There are still two results on the table, I think. The intention of the one ball was quite clear. We are not a results driven team in any way, shape or form and you almost put pressure on yourself when you set goals of what you want to achieve. This could have been a draw on this type of pitch, so forcing the game forward makes a result possible tomorrow.
“I think there is supposed to be a bit of cloud tomorrow. We saw how much it moved when there was a cloud the other day. If you can get lucky as a bowling group and get an hour out of it, you can bring the game home pretty quickly. We feel pretty confident that we can go and get 7 wickets and if we show up tomorrow and there’s a bit of cloud, I’ll have a smile on my face.” He concluded.
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