England fought fire with fire as the Ashes began with low scores and high drama on a 19-wicket opening day in Perth.
The tourists chose to bat first on a spicy greentop and were shot down for 172 in less than 33 overs as Mitchell Starc steamed in to take career-best figures of seven for 58.
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It was a nightmarish start to one of the most hotly anticipated series in a generation, with ducks for Zak Crawley and linchpin Joe Root as well as collapse of five for 12 to end the innings.
But England’s bowlers were red hot at a ground that is known locally as ‘the Furnace’, dragging Australia down to 123 for nine as captain Ben Stokes bagged five for 23.
Jofra Archer felled debutant Jake Weatherald second ball as he and Brydon Carse took two apiece before Stokes showed off his golden arm.
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It was a remarkable day of action in front of almost 52,000 fans, including a loud away contingent thought to be over 10,000 strong. While ball dominated bat throughout, Harry Brook hit a fearless 52 from 61 balls including five fours and a massive six down the ground.
When he departed, gloving a bumper from Australia’s other newcomer Brendan Doggett and walking before DRS had its say, it sparked a flurry of tame dismissals as Starc made hay.
But what the delirious home supporters did not know was just how hard their own side would find it.
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Weatherald was knocked flat on his face by a booming Archer inswinger that pinned the first-timer in front of middle stump, while fellow opener Usman Khawaja was pushed down to number four having spent too much time off the field.
In his absence Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith both moved up a spot and endured a long and uncomfortable trial at the hands of the English quicks.
It took 28 balls for Australia to score their first single and the experienced duo racked up multiple plays and misses as the ball frequently whistled past the outside edge. At one point Carse thought he had Labuschagne caught behind and the pair exchanged angry words after the third umpire decided a slight ripple on UltraEdge was not enough.
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Their bodies took a pounding too, Smith struck twice on the arm and once on the finger before Labuschagne cannoned Archer down into his stumps via his elbow.
By then he had scrambled nine from 41 balls and Smith, so often England’s nemesis, followed for 17 off 49. He fended a beauty from Carse to Brook at second slip, finally nicking one after being beaten a dozen times.
The Durham quick made short work of Khawaja, flicking the glove with a snorter that reared violently at the left-hander.
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Gus Atkinson somehow went wicketless despite a couple of excellent spells, dropping a catch from Cameron Green off his own bowling, while Mark Wood smashed the all-rounder in the helmet with a 91mph bouncer that left him staggering.
Stokes held himself back until the 28th over but had a huge impact, drawing errors from Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Starc and Scott Boland.
England had earlier hurried through the first innings, scoring at a punchy 5.23 an over while losing regular wickets.
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Crawley avoided a repetition of Rory Burns’ first-ball dismissal at Starc’s hands four years ago but was gone off the last ball of his opening over, flashing a drive to slip.
Duckett was trapped lbw for 21 and Root, having survived a run-out scare backing up at the non-striker’s end, was well beaten by Starc as he edged to third slip. Having faced scrutiny over his failure to score a Test hundred on Australian soil, the world’s number one batter this time failed to get a run.
Ollie Pope made a composed 46 but was lbw to an innocuous ball from Green, while Stokes had his stumps rearranged by Starc just after lunch.
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Brook played with abandon from the off, producing some hairy moments along with wonderful strikes as he ended a crazy day as the most successful batter.
His exit, backing out of a pull, kicked off a rapid collapse as England lost half their team in 19 balls but there was plenty more where that came from when Australia took to the crease.
