England’s Joe Root conquered his final frontier with a first Ashes century in Australia as the tourists pushed past 300 on day one of the second test in Brisbane on Thursday despite a six-wicket haul from pace spearhead Mitchell Starc.
Root marched off unbeaten on 135 off 202 balls, his 40th test ton helping England to 325 for nine at stumps, the tourists marginally in front after their captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first in the day-night match.
Number 11 batter Jofra Archer chipped in a handy 32 not out in an unbroken 61-run partnership for the final wicket, while Zak Crawley shrugged off a pair of ducks from Perth to score a valuable 76.
Crawley combined with Root in a 117-run stand to rally England after Starc reduced them to five for two in a shocking start, with opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope falling for ducks in the space of four balls.
With Root and Crawley in command, England went to tea at 98 for two during a hot and sunny afternoon, and made the same again in the twilight session to be 196 for four at dinner.
But their hopes of building a bigger total were thwarted by the brilliant Starc, who surpassed Wasim Akram as the most prolific left-arm seamer in tests with 415 dismissals when he captured his third wicket, having Harry Brook caught in the slips for 31.
Starc later rattled through the lower order to finish with 6-71 for the day. The rangy 35-year-old already has 16 wickets for the series following his 10-wicket haul in Perth.
Concerningly for Australia, Starc appeared sore by the end of his 19 overs’ work for the day.
“It’s a pretty tough day’s cricket,” he said.
“Once that ball goes soft it’s not the easiest thing to score with. It’s certainly not the easiest thing to bowl with.”
Australia won the first test in Perth in two days but were frustrated for much of day one at the Gabba, losing the toss and dropping two catches that could have had both Root and Crawley packing early.
Australia captain Steve Smith put down a diving, one-handed catch in the slips when Root nicked Starc only three balls into his innings.
Crawley was also reprieved on 39 when he smashed straight back at bowler Scott Boland who let the waist-high chance rocket through his hands.
Josh Inglis, playing his first test in Australia, did much to make amends, though, producing a sensational run-out to remove Stokes for 19.
Inglis swooped in from the covers when Root sent Stokes back as he dashed for a risky single, and hit the one stump he could from side on.
Jamie Smith was then bowled for a duck by Boland in the following over and England ended up losing five wickets for 54 runs before Root and Archer’s late stand.
Australia sprung a surprise by dropping veteran spinner Nathan Lyon for the first home test since 2012 and replacing him with Michael Neser in a four-pronged seam attack.
With Usman Khawaja out injured, skipper Smith confirmed Travis Head will open for the hosts after his match-winning 123 in Perth, with Josh Inglis to take the vacant middle order spot.
England shelved their four-pronged seam attack, with spin-bowling all-rounder Will Jacks picked in place of Mark Wood, who may be out of action until the fourth test in Melbourne.
Jacks batted well for his 19 before falling to a poor shot to Smith in the slips.
Australia lead the five-test series 1-0 and have not lost to England at the Gabba since 1986.
(Reuters)
