Joe Root has got the monkey off his back as he got his 40th Test ton and more importantly first in Australia as his unbeaten 135 off 202 balls led England to a very good total of 325/9 in 74 overs on a shoddy day as far as over rate goes. In what was an absorbing contest between bat and ball, it was Joe Root who held the innings together and scored a ton while others played around him.
For Australia, it was about that man again Mitchell Starc and pink ball Test matches as he carried the Australian attack on his shoulders and his 6-wicket haul was the highlight of Australia’s efforts. The Test is fairly balanced with England having their noses in front because they have got runs on the board.
Zak Crawley & Joe Root stabilise England after Mitchell Starc’s early double strike.Â
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett came out to open for England while Mitchell Starc had ball in hand for Australia. Crawley got off the mark with a boundary with a cover drive but Starc struck in the first over as he removed Duckett for a golden duck as the outside edge was caught by Marnus Labuschagne at first slip. Ollie Pope came out to bat next. Michael Neser had ball in hand from the other end. Neser started with a maiden.
Starc got another as he removed Pope as he played away from the body and chopped onto the stumps with England’s Number 3 scoring a bronze duck. Joe Root came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace and then got the outside edge that went in the gap between Steve Smith and Labuschagne for a lucky boundary. Neser continued as Crawley whipped it away over square leg for a boundary. Crawley drove the bowler through the covers for a boundary.
Crawley was let off as there was a spike on Ultra-Edge off Neser’s bowling but the appeal was turned out and DRS not taken. Starc bowled another tight over. Neser bowled another probing over. Starc was tight as usual. Scott Boland came into the attack next. He bowled a good first over. Starc continued and gave away 4 byes to the batting side as the ball flew over the keeper. Crawley then drilled Starc down the ground for a boundary. Boland bowled another miserly over.
Brendan Doggett came into the attack next. Crawley’s triple brought up the 50 for England in 10.4 overs. Boland continued as Root pushed it firmly down the ground past mid-off for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between the two batters. England were 58/2 in 12 overs when we paused for the first Drinks Break of the day. Doggett continued after the break and bowled a decent over. Boland bowled another probing over.
Doggett continued and bowled a tight over. Root him Boland past the bowler for a boundary. Doggett bowled another probing over. Boland continued as Crawley hit hard back to Boland on his follow through who put down a tough chance as the ball went away to long-off fence. Mitchell Starc came back into the attack for a fresh spell. He bowled a good over. Cameron Green came into the attack next as Crawley whipped him away by flicking it to deep square leg for a boundary.
Starc continued as Crawley completed his 20th Test fifty off 68 balls and it was a welcome return to form for him. Green continued as Crawley flicked him away to deep fine leg for a boundary. Starc continued and bowled another decent over. Green had ball in hand for the last over before the break as Crawley drove it down the ground for a boundary. England were 98/2 in 24 overs with Crawley on 61* off 80 balls while Root was on 32* off 60 balls when we all paused for the first break which was the Tea Interval.
Zak Crawley & Harry Brook falls after starts while Joe Root steadies things for England.Â
Joe Root and Harry Brook resumed proceedings for England while Brendan Doggett had ball in hand for Australia. Crawley pulled him behind square for a boundary as the 100 came up for England in 24.4 overs. Crawley then drove him on the up between covers and mid-off for a boundary. The 100-run stand came up between the two players. Michael Neser had ball in hand from the other end. Crawley hit Neser for a boundary via the on-drive past Root.
Doggett continued as Root swivelled and gloved it past diving Carey for a boundary. Neser continued and got the breakthrough as he removed Crawley for 76 off 93 balls with 11 fours to his name as the outside edge was found through to Carey. Harry Brook came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Doggett continued as Brook tucked it away to square leg for a boundary. Brook then slapped Doggett away for a boundary by cutting it hard behind square.
Brook took the attack to Neser as well by crunching it through cover point for a boundary. Brook survived a close stumping as well as his foot was just in time off Neser. Doggett bowled a decent over. Neser continued as Root flicked it away past Starc at mid-on for a boundary. Doggett continued as Root reached his 67th Test fifty off 83 balls. Neser continued and bowled a decent over. Scott Boland returned to the bowling crease. He bowled a decent over as well.
Cameron Green came back into the attack. Root drove him straight back past the bowler for a boundary. England reached 166/3 in 36 overs when Drinks was called into the second session of play. Scott Boland continued after the Break and bowled a maiden. Green continued as Brook thrashed him away through covers as the 50-run stand came up between Root and Brook. Boland continued as Australia burnt a review for LBW against Root.
Mitchell Starc returned to the attack and once again broke through removing Harry Brook for 31 off 33 balls with 4 fours to his name as he found the outside edge that carried to Steve Smith at second slip who made no mistake. Captain Ben Stokes walked out to bat next. Stokes got off the mark with a boundary as he threw his hands at it and got the outside edge between gully and backward point for a boundary.
Boland continued and bowled a miserly over. Starc bowled a tight over as well. Boland continued as Stokes took the attack to him by hitting him for back-to-back boundaries through the slip cordon and then through deep fine leg region. Starc continued and bowled a decent over as well. Neser came back into the attack and bowled a probing over. Starc bowled another good over.
Michael Neser bowled the last over before the dinner break. He bowled a maiden as England reached 196/4 in 47 overs with Root on 68* off 129 balls while Stokes was on 14* off 23 balls in what was a shocking over rate maintained by Australia.
Joe Root completes his 40th Test ton while Mitchell Starc picks up 6-wicket haul in entertaining final session.Â
Joe Root and captain Ben Stokes resumed proceedings for England while Mitchell Starc had ball in hand for Australia. Starc started with a probing over. Michael Neser took the ball from the other end. He too bowled a good over. Stokes took the attack to Starc by driving the ball straight back past the bowler for a boundary as the 200 came up for England in 49.1 overs. Neser continued and kept things tight.
Scott Boland came back into the attack next. Root survived a LBW scare as the impact was outside off-stump with Australia losing another review. Neser bowled a maiden. Boland continued as Root prod forward to drive it right of the bowler for a boundary. Brendan Doggett came back into the attack now. The partnership was going well but against the run of play Ben Stokes was run out by Josh Inglis as a yes and no situation meant he couldn’t get back in time and departed for 19 off 49 balls with 4 fours to his name. Jamie Smith came out to bat next.
Boland then got the breakthrough again as he removed Jamie Smith for a silver duck by knocking him over as the batter played down the wrong line. Will Jacks came out to bat next. Doggett continued as Root nicely played it past backward point for a boundary. Boland continued and bowled a tight over. Doggett too kept things under check. Cameron Green came back into the attack. Jacks drove him past the covers for a boundary.
Doggett continued and overstepped as well with Root getting a triple. Jacks punished Doggett by getting across and flicking it to the right of mid-on for a boundary. Green bowled a maiden as England reached 235/6 in 62 overs when we paused for the final Drinks of the day. Doggett continued after the break as Jacks controlled the pull through deep backward square leg for a boundary. Root entered the 90s by helping it on its way through fine leg for a boundary. Root was not done yet as he climbed onto the short ball and dispatched it between backward square leg and deep square leg for a boundary.
Green continued and bowled a decent over. Starc was having his own story as he removed Will Jacks for 19 off 31 balls with 3 fours to his name as Jacks played away from the body to get the outside edge as Steven Smith took the catch at second slip. Gus Atkinson came out to bat next. Boland continued and then the moment came when Joe Root got to his 40th Test hundred and his first in Australia with a boundary through a tickle to the fine leg region. He got to his hundred in 181 balls.
Root got another boundary away as he flicked the ball through square leg for a boundary. Atkinson took on Starc with an expansive drive through covers for a boundary as Root also completed 1000 Test runs in Australia. Starc hit back and got rid of Atkinson for 4 off 3 balls with a boundary to his name as the top edge was wonderfully taken by Carey running backwards and avoided collision with Labuschagne. Brydon Carse came out to bat next.
Carse did not last long as Starc had two in the over as the outside edge carried to Alex Carey who dived to his right to take a stunner as Starc now had 6 wickets to his name and 16 wickets in 3 innings so far. Jofra Archer came out to bat next. Boland continued as Root played the late dab and cut it between backward point and deep third man for a boundary. Starc continued as Root tried to reverse scoop and managed to get only a single.
Boland continued as Archer took him on and swung hard over backward square leg for the maximum. Archer was having fun as he backed away to clear his front leg and slap it away over midwicket for a boundary. Root joined the fun as he heaved it over midwicket for a boundary. Archer then took on Starc as he launched it down the ground over long-on for the maximum. Root got into the act as he cleared his front leg and lofted it over the bowler’s head for a boundary as the 300 came up for England in 70.3 overs.
Boland continued as Root showed his class as he got into the position and reverse scooped it over deep third man for the maximum. The 50-run stand was up in just 29 balls between Root and Archer. Starc continued and bowled a decent over. Neser came back into the attack to bowl the last over before the end of the day’s play. He bowled a decent over as the last pair negotiated the over well.
England were 325/9 in 74 overs with Joe Root on 135* off 202 balls with 15 fours and one six to his name. Jofra Archer was with him on 32* off 26 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes to his name. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
Mitchell Starc was the star of the show as he finished the day with 6/71 in 19 overs. Michael Neser has figures of 1/43 in 14 overs. Scott Boland finished the day with 1/87 in 15 overs. Brendan Doggett has figures of 0/76 in 14 overs while Cameron Green’s 8 overs went for 43 runs.
What Lies Ahead.Â
England have their noses in front at the end of the first day thanks to Joe Root and the last wicket stand with Jofra Archer which has completely deflated Australia. The score is 325 and come tomorrow England would want to add a few more to their tally while Australia will try to take the last wicket quickly and then bat under natural sunshine.
An intriguing Day 2 awaits us all one which will tell us which team gains the upper hand in this Test match.
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