Watch: Jaffa from Mitchell Starc clean bowled Ben Stokes on Day 1 of 1st Test of The Ashes

Bails were flying, timbers displaced, and Ben Stokes kneeled down. Mitchell Starc got his 4th wicket of Day 1 of the 1st Test of the Ashes 2025-26. The Australian cricket team is ruling at the Perth Stadium.

Mitchell Starc has been on fire since the morning. After dismissing Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root, the pacer dispatched England skipper Ben Stokes. The experienced pacer delivered an absolute jaffa to bowl out Stokes. Stokes had no clue what to do to counter the moving ball. The left-handed batter went down on one knee on the ground, staring at the bowler in disbelief.

The pitch has some grass, which has helped the pacers with the new red shining ball. Starc delivered the ball slightly out of the off stump, which moved towards the batter and went through between the bat and pad to dismantle the stumps. Ben Stokes is gone for 6 off 12. England lost their 5th wicket for only 115 runs on the scoreboard.

Watch the delivery that bowled out Ben Stokes:

Australia came to play the opening match of the first match of The Ashes 2025-26 without their key bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood; both of them are currently recovering from injury. For this match, Australia named two debutants—opener Jake Weatherald and pacer Brendan Doggett—into their playing XI. In the absence of Cummins, Steve Smith is playing as the stand-in skipper of the Australia cricket team.

Starc is the main bowler of Australia, as there are no Cummins and Hazlewood. As of now, their absence has not bothered the Aussies too much, as Starc is on song.

Australia’s Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, and Scott Boland.

England's Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (w), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, and Mark Wood.