After a rainy first day of the fifth and final Ashes Test, Joe Root and Harry Brook saved England and gave them the lead on Sunday by taming Australia’s all-pace attack with an uninterrupted 154-run partnership.
At a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground, they batted after captain Ben Stokes won the toss and led the visitors to 211-3 before the players were forced off the field due to poor lighting shortly before tea.
Stumps were called an hour early due to further rain and the possibility of lightning, which prevented any more play.
After getting together with England struggling at 57-3 after the wickets of Ben Duckett (27), Zak Crawley (16), and Jacob Bethell (10) prior to lunch, Root was not out at 72 and Brook at 78.
On a good batting pitch with minimal movement for the bowlers, the top two batters in the world went about counterattacking. Both scored hard-earned half-centuries and kept the scoreboard moving quickly in the face of ominous storm clouds.
“We’re in very good position, obviously three down at the end of the end of play. Hopefully we can make the most of that going into tomorrow. It was good pitch,” said Brook.
“When I first went in it felt like the bounce was fairly steep. But then it started to get a little bit lower and slower and just generally feels like a good wicket,” he added.
England were eager to maintain the momentum after winning the previous Test in Melbourne by four wickets in just two days.
The hosts retained the urn by winning in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide before England’s triumph ended a 15-year losing streak in Australia, but it was too late to salvage the series.
Australia surprised everyone by replacing pacer Jhye Richardson with all-rounder Beau Webster and ignoring off-spinner Todd Murphy. The hosts have not used a front-line spinner in a Sydney Test for the first time in nearly 140 years.
“Hate doing it. But if we keep producing wickets that we don’t think are going to spin and seam is going to play a big part and cracks are going to play a big part, you kind of get pushed into a corner,” said Australia skipper Steve Smith.
The sole change made by England was the substitution of seamer Matthew Potts for the injured Gus Atkinson, while front-line slow bowler Shoaib Bashir was sidelined for a fifth consecutive Test.
With thunderous applause when hero Ahmed Al Ahmed, who confronted one of the gunman, appeared, the day started with a tribute to first responders at the Bondi mass shooting last month, which claimed 15 lives.
When play began, Duckett was energetic, hitting five boundaries off Mitchell Starc in a lightning-fast 27 from 24 balls.
However, Starc, England’s greatest tormentor, had the final laugh, luring Duckett with an outside edge off an angled ball at full stretch for wicketkeeper Alex Carey. This series, Starc has already bagged Duckett five times.
By the first drinks break, both openers were back in the sheds, and the tourists were in danger on 51-2 after Crawley was caught lbw by Michael Neser. Bethell was a cautious player who never seemed confident and needed 15 balls to get off the mark.
Bethell left after probing at a poignant delivery from Scott Boland that took a slight edge to Carey, as England were reduced to 57-3.
Root joined Brook at the crease and they started rebuilding.
Root reached his 67th half-century and the 100-partnership with a single off Webster as they effectively rotated the strike and punished any loose balls. With 68, only the legendary Indian player Sachin Tendulkar has more Test fifties.
Brook was lucky to survive when he slogged Starc on 45 and the ball fell between three chasing fielders. However, he maintained his composure and cracked Webster through the covers for a boundary four balls after Root to complete his 15th half-century.
