Srinagar: England pacer Mark Wood announced his comeback to International cricket with 94.6 miles per hour thunderbolt that uprooted the stumps of Australia’s inform opener Usman Khawaja on the opening day of third Ashes Test at Headingley, Leeds.
England 0-2 behind in the Ashes series, its skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first on a wicket with a tinge of green on it.
England made three changes to their playing XI for the game and brought in Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in place of Ollie Pope, Josh Tongue and James Anderson.
The decision to bowl first was validated in the first over itself as Stuart Broad dismissed David Warner getting him out caught at second slip.
From the other end, Mark Wood steamed and consistently clocked over 145 kmph. The searing pace instantly paid dividends as he dismantled the stumps of the in-form Usman Khawaja.
The speedster bowled a fuller length delivery from over the wicket which came back in and found the inside edge of Khwaja’s bat and crashed into his leg stump.
The delivery clocked 152 kmph on the speedometer and managed to take Khawaja by surprise by virtue of its sheer pace.
Wood has been brought in to fill in the big shoes of the veteran seamer James Anderson, who has been dropped for his lack of rhythm in the first two Tests.
Wood last played a Test against Pakistan in Karachi in December 2022.
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