Credit: Twitter
On Day 2 of the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval in London, Stuart Broad was spotted playing mind games in the middle of the pitch, which led to the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne on the very next ball. At Tea, Australia are 186/7 in their first innings, trailing England by 97 runs, with Steve Smith and Pat Cummins at the crease.
It was during the morning session of play, when the 37-year-old was recorded on camera, flipping the bails on the stumps, after the fourth ball of the 43rd over. The Australian number three batter wasn’t any of it, as mentioned by Sky Sports commentator Nasser Hussain. On the fifth ball of the over, bowled by Mark Wood, Marnus Labuschagne tried to defend his stumps, but he only managed to nick the ball straight to Joe Root in the slips cordon, who took a blinder of a catch.
In the immediate aftermath, Stuart Broad gave a pat on the back to the non-striker Usman Khawaja, while his striking partner wasn’t happy with what had transpired in the last two balls of his innings.
The official Twitter account of England posted the video of the moment, with a telling caption, which read, “Name: Stuart Broad Occupation: Mind Games Extraordinaire Incredible, Broady”.
Watch the mind games from Stuart Broad here:
After picking up only one wicket in the morning session, England bowlers came roaring back in the post-lunch session at The Oval, accounting for five Australian batters. They managed to send Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, and Mitchell Starc back to the pavilion, within 21 overs worth of play. The wickets were shared among all the bowlers, with Stuart Broad and Mark Wood picking two each.
