England dominate on the first day of the second Test at the Gabba in Brisbane as Joe Root hits his first century in Australia.
England’s Joe Root conquered the final frontier with his first Ashes century in Australia as tourists topped 300 on the first day of the second Test in Brisbane despite losing six wickets to pace leader Mitchell Starc.
Root came out on Thursday with an unbeaten 135 off 202 balls after being hit late with a pink ball under the floodlights at the Gabba, with England at 325 for nine after captain Ben Stokes won the toss and was elected to bat.
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No. 11 batsman Jofra Archer scored a handy 32 not out in an unbroken 61-run partnership for the final wicket, while Zak Crawley shrugged off a pair of Perth ducks to score a valuable 76.
Crawley combined with Root to lead England to 117 runs after Starc had a disastrous start that saw openers Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope fall for ducks between four balls, limiting England to 2 for 5.
“Joe keeps things simple. He just focuses on the runs he needs to score that day,” Crowley told TNT Sports.
“He’s the best player I’ve ever played with or against.”
With Root and Crawley in charge, England went to tea for two on a hot, sunny afternoon at 98, and did the same again in the evening session, making their total for dinner four to 196.
However, their hopes of racking up a huge total were dashed by the talented Starc, who overtook Wasim Akram to become Test’s most prolific left-arm seamer, with 415 dismissals while catching Harry Brooke at 31 slips and taking his third wicket.
“After the first match there was a big difference. But today we were calm and managed to ease our nerves,” added Crawley, who won a pair in the first Test.
“I tried to keep it simple. The pitch was starting to flatten out a little bit, so when I got out I did a fist pump.
“I had a clear plan and I stuck to it. When the ball came into my area, I tried to hit it hard on the pads.
“We still had some loose shots so we needed to leave a little more on the outside of the off stump, but we went inside and the ball was soft so I felt like we could play a little bit more on that side.”
Stark then raced through the lower-ranked teams, finishing the day with 6 wins and 71 losses.
“Wasim is still up there as one of the best players of all time with the ball. I think he’s still better,” Starc said of his accomplishments over the former Pakistan seamer.
“I think it (the pink ball) is still like the white ball.The wicket had good tempo and Root was batting well.
“It was a pretty rough day of cricket. When the ball gets soft, it’s difficult to bowl.”
Australia made a surprise appearance in their first home Test since 2012 by removing Nathan Ryan and using Michael Nether in their four-seam attack.
With Usman Khawaja out injured, Australia captain Steve Smith has confirmed Perth’s 123-winner Travis Head will start against the hosts.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Inglis took Head’s usual midfield position.
England replaced Mark Wood with spin bowling all-rounder Will Jacks and shelved their four-seam attack.
Australia lead the five-Test series 1-0 and have not lost to England at the Gabba since 1986.
