Josh Tongue claimed his first Ashes wicket to give England a much-needed breakthrough with the final ball before lunch on day one of the Second Test.
On a morning interrupted by rain and Just Stop Oil protestors, England had failed to make the most of favourable bowling conditions until Tongue bowled Usman Khawaja for 17 to leave Australia 73/1 at the interval.
Play had earlier been halted after just one over as two demonstrators from the activist group broke onto the field and attempted to reach the square with their trademark orange dye before being tackled by players and, eventually, stewards. Three arrests were made over the incident, which prompted only a brief interruption before ground staff using leaf blowers were able to get the game back on.
Ben Stokes had won the toss and, with the clouds in, unsurprisingly chose to insert the tourists, having yesterday named an all-seam attack for the first time in his captaincy.
Conditions seemed ideal for the likes of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, but while all three beat the bat on numerous occasions either side of a short rain delay, England struggled for a breakthrough.
Broad came closest, finding long-time foe David Warner’s outside edge, but the ball travelled quickly to Ollie Pope in the cordon and the vice-captain put a glorious chance down.
Warner looked in the mood to punish the error, going on the attack to reach his half-century hooking Tongue for the first six of the innings, while Khawaja - a centurion at Edgbaston - survived a couple of close calls, including an edge that fell just short of Joe Root at slip.
Tongue, however, fought back on the stroke of lunch with a delivery that nipped back in sharply to claim the top of Khawaja’s off-stump as he shouldered arms.
