Stuart Broad fires England’s hopes of first Test victory in Ashes with double strike

Fourth day ends in dramatic fashion with Australians reduced to 107-3, needing 174 to win

England's Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Steven Smith on day four of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on June 19, 2023. AP

Stuart Broad lit the fuse on England’s victory push with two huge wickets as a compelling Ashes first Test built towards a thrilling conclusion at Edgbaston.

Broad got England’s "fortress" rocking in the evening session as he had Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith – numbers one and two in the Test batting rankings – caught behind during an electric spell.

With adrenalin coursing through his veins, Broad would have loved nothing more than a crack at the man who occupies third place on that list, but Australia opted to shield Travis Head from the late pressure and sent out Scott Boland as nightwatchman.

Australia ended a gripping fourth day on 107 for three chasing 281, with all results on the table heading into what is set up to be a classic finale.

The tourists had made an assured start to the chase, with Usman Khawaja and David Warner putting on 61 for the first wicket before Ollie Robinson got one to clip the latter’s outside edge to get his side up and running.

Ashes first Test - day four in pictures

England had earlier been bowled out for 273, an erratic but entertaining innings punctuated with dashing stroke play but haunted by a feeling of impermanence.

There was not a single half-century on the card, with Joe Root and Harry Brook both reaching 46 and Ben Stokes contributing 43.

Had any of the three lasted the course, the game might have slipped away from Australia entirely, but Root was stumped for the first time in his 131 Test career as he charged Nathan Lyon and Brook tried too hard to generate a boundary that was not on offer.

Stokes, whose attacking principles run through the DNA of his side, played a notably responsible knock but was stopped in his tracks by his excellent opposite number Pat Cummins.

After his late bowling heroics, Broad said: "I wanted one more [over] tonight really, would have been ideal because it was just moving a nice amount.

"But those two [Khawaja and Boland] scrapped really well at the end, I thought but it was just doing enough off the pitch, dry surface but it feels like if you bash away and bash away, one will move.

"Coming into it, I thought if I can just whack the pitch as hard as I can, try and get a little bit of movement and create a bit of theatre, that's one thing, particularly at Edgbaston, if you can get the crowd going, you can almost feel like something's happening.

"Any day that you get Smith, Labuschagne and Warner back in the hutch, we're delighted.

"We feel pretty confident we can go and get seven wickets tomorrow."