Brisbane: Australia’s veteran seamer Mitchell Starc has made history, surpassing legendary pacer Wasim Akram as the left-arm pacer with the most wickets in Test cricket.

He achieved this milestone during the second session of Day 1 of the pink-ball Test against England, dismissing Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope at the Gabba, Brisbane, on Thursday.
Starc stood tall for Australia once again in a pink-ball contest, bagging three wickets on Day 1 in the first two sessions. With twin scalps in the first session and one in the second, Starc rose to the No. 1 spot in the list, beating the legendary Wasim Akram.

Starc now has 415 Test wickets in 102 matches at an average of 26.53 with 17 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls under his belt. Akram took 414 wickets in 104 games at an average of 23.62.
Starc has broken Akram’s record in just 102 Tests, starting the Ashes series with a bang. He took 7 wickets in England’s first innings and followed up with 3 in the second in the series opener, setting the tone for a dominant Australian performance in Perth.

His performance at the Gabba comes after a Player of the Match-winning 10-wicket haul in the Ashes opener, underscoring his status as Australia’s premier strike bowler.

Coming to the match, England’s star batter Joe Root’s fifty and a decent cameo from Harry Brook powered England to 196/4 at the end of the second session of the second Test against Australia.
Root brought up his 67th Test fifty; he added 20 runs along with England skipper Ben Stokes. For Australia, Mitchell Starc stood tall again, scalping three of the four visitors’ wickets.

Brief Scores: England 196/4 (Zak Crawley 76, Joe Root 68*, Mitchell Starc 3/36) vs Australia.