In the fifth and final Ashes Test on Monday, an imperious Joe Root scored a spectacular 160 to propel England to 384 before Travis Head unleashed a lightning-fast, undefeated 91 to bring Australia back into the match.
Only a magnificent caught-and-bowled by Michael Neser, who finished with 4-60, halted Root’s outstanding innings, which included his 41st century to level with Ricky Ponting.
After losing Jake Weatherald (21) and Marnus Labuschagne (48), Australia had to negotiate the second day’s last session at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground.
With Head and nightwatchman Neser on 1, the hosts had surged to 166-2 by stumps.
“I think it’s set interestingly,” Root told TNT Sports.
He added: “Most important for us is not panicking, not dwelling too much on what happened here. It’s how we respond tomorrow morning and maximise that chance first up.”
Since making his debut at the first Test in Perth, Weatherald has once again fallen short of expectations. He needed a high score to silence the critics. Before skipper Ben Stokes trapped him leg before wicket, he was dropped twice in three deliveries, first by Root and then by Ben Duckett.
However, Head was in the zone, just like Root, who has smashed two hundreds this series. Head clattered three boundaries off the second over from Matthew Potts, and blasted to a quickfire 50 off 55 balls.
Additionally, Labuschagne was in excellent form, hitting seven boundaries before thick-edging Stokes to Jacob Bethell at the gully. After winning the previous Test in Melbourne, England is keen for another victory, but Australia lead the series 3-1 and have already retained the Ashes.
Before lunch, England lost Jamie Smith (46), Harry Brook (84), and Stokes (0) at 211-3. In the second session, Root, Will Jacks (27), Brydon Carse (1), and Josh Tongue (0) fell.
Root started at 72 and reaffirmed his place as the greatest of all time with an almost chanceless century off 146 balls. After failing to reach 100 in Australia during three prior Ashes tours, the 35-year-old had started the series under pressure.
In the day-night Test at Brisbane, he ended the drought with an undefeated 138, and his heroics in Sydney tied him for third place with Australia’s Ponting on the list of all-time century-makers with 41. The only players with more Test hundreds are India’s Sachin Tendulkar (51) and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (45).
With England in difficulty at 57-3 on Day 1, Root and Brook joined forces, both aiming for huge hundreds on a perfect batting deck. However, Brook only lasted five balls on Monday, adding six to his overnight 78 before slipping into Steve Smith’s safe hands at slip after dabbing at a Scott Boland delivery.
It concluded a partnership of 169 runs, which was not only England’s greatest of the series but also the largest by either team, topping Head and Alex Carey’s 162 in Adelaide. After just 11 balls, Stokes managed to get the tiniest edge off Mitchell Starc to Carey.
After chipping Cameron Green to Labuschagne at cover on 22, Jamie Smith was in peril and was lucky to survive. He started to leave, but replays revealed that Green had overstepped, making it a no-ball. He added another 24 before Labuschagne dismissed him in his opening over with his medium pace.
When the new ball was taken after lunch, the run rate drastically decreased, but Root persevered and reached 150 for the 17th time, three short of Tendulkar and just one behind the great Don Bradman.
Before Jacks hit a leading edge to Green in the gully off Neser, he and Jacks shared 52 for the seventh wicket. Without adding to the score, Root was the ninth man out, followed by Tongue.
