Joe Root finally achieved his maiden Ashes hundred from home while Australia’s pink-ball maestro Mitchell Starc claimed six wickets on a frenetic opening day of the second Test.
Root’s highest knock in 29 innings for Australia before this match was 89, and when he went to bat on Thursday afternoon, he not only lost the first Test in two days in Perth with no runs and eight scores, but Starc (6-71) dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks, and his team were slumping at 5-2 from three overs in Brisbane.
But the 34-year-old reached triple figures on 181 deliveries, scoring 135 off 202 balls, including his fifth clip to fine leg at Ashton and his 40th in Test cricket, as England won 325-9 after opting to bat day and night at The Gabba.
Root’s previous highest score for Australia was the 89 he scored in Brisbane four years ago.
Root shared a third-wicket stand of 117 off 152 balls with Zak Crawley (76) (Crawley bounced back from a pair in Perth with his 20 Test fifties), and shared 69-54 with the finicky Harry Brook (33-31).
Root and last man Jofra Archer (32 not out for 26) then smashed the tourists to over 300 with a spirited, unbroken stand of 61 off 44 balls after collapsing from 210 for 4 to 5 for 54.
Scott Boland bowled 70 overs (1-87) amid a barrage of boundaries, but England captain Ben Stokes objected to his late-night declaration, making him bat for 19.
In a way, this pleased Australia. Australia’s late tactics showed how disinterested they were in stretching their legs under the lights.
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Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton points out Harry Brook’s poor shot selection that led to his sending off to Mitchell Starc
England’s position would have been even brighter if Brook had not recklessly let Starc’s second ball slip just as the natural light was beginning to fade and the floodlights were turned on, and Stokes (19 off 49 balls) unnecessarily popped out after adding 34 off 94 balls with Root in an enthusiastic five-wicket stand.
After Stokes’ dismissal, Jamie Smith (0) was bowled for three by Beauland’s beautiful Nippbacker, Will Jacks (19), selected to replace the injured Mark Wood (knee), Gus Atkinson (4) and Brydon Kearse (0) were all out for Starc as the Australians took their wicket tally to 87 in pink-ball Tests and 418 in all Tests. cricket.
Jacks and Kearse fell over in their drives, but as England batsmen have seen before in this series, Atkinson was caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was running towards the boundary, despite being almost tackled by teammate Marnus Labuschagne.
Starc took six wickets at the Gabba, taking his record in pink-ball Tests to 87
England’s wobbling mid-order and bottom order countered Australia’s pace attack, which had struggled earlier in the day, and stand-in captain Steve Smith also entered a super-defensive field very early on.
England lead after the first day at the Gabba
The home side were once again without regular skipper Pat Cummins – who was rumored to be ready to return from a hip injury, but the seamer took no chances – and off-spinner Nathan Ryan, who was ruled out of a home Test for the first time since 2012.
This all-pace unit looked a bit the same, with the exception of Starc, who struck out Duckett in the first over and bowled Pope (0) in the third over, with the latter England batsman chopping for point through.
Ollie Pope chops on for a duck in Starc’s third over
Later, when Starc profited from Brook’s ugly dismissal, he overtook Pakistan legend Wasim Akram (414 wickets) to become the most prolific left-arm seamer in the history of Test cricket.
Duckett admitted he was deprived of a good ball by Starc in the closing stages, but was unable to trouble the scorers, while opening partner Crawley finally got a result in the series after back-to-back blobs at Optus Stadium last time out. Both were Stark’s fault.
Crawley’s concentration finally snapped just after the 40-minute tea break, as they hit 11 boundaries, including one that Starc missed his mark when Carey under-edged a ball from behind by Lyon substitute Michael Nether.
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Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain talks about how Zak Crawley bounced back following the pair in the first Test in Perth
Had Australia considered it, Crawley could have been out at No. 15, near the end of the fourth over, behind from Nether. There were some murmurs about Snikko, but not loud enough to overturn the decision that it was probably not an out on the field.
Root also had a stroke of luck early in the innings after being struck out by Starc, but Steve Smith was unable to claim a stunning one-handed catch as he leapt past Labuscagne at the cordon.
However, after a nervy start, Root quickly found his form, aggressive in defense and attack, exquisite in his drives, with only a few pounds of appeal and a fear of run-outs causing him any real concern, and also showed off six reverse scoops in the second half of the final session.
Root has now scored 40 Test hundreds and 5 in Ashes cricket
It was just a shame for England that Crawley wasn’t able to continue, and Brook perished after a dazzling cameo, but the captain’s innings ended early due to a misjudgment from Stokes and a brilliant delivery from Josh Inglis’ cover for just one stump.
But Root and Archer’s fireworks followed on from their thumping in Perth two weeks ago, giving the tourists a harsh whip from day one as they look to level the five-Test series.
Meanwhile, more routes mean Australian great Matthew Hayden won’t have to walk naked around the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which he said he would do if England batsmen failed to hit 100 during this Ashes series.
Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26
always UK and Ireland
1st Test (Perth): Australia beat England by 8 wickets 2nd Test (day/night): Thursday 4th December – Monday 8th December (4am) – The Gabba, Brisbane 3rd Test: Wednesday 17th December Days of the week – Sunday 21 December (11:30pm) – Adelaide Oval 4th Test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11:30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground 5th Test: Sunday 4 January – Thursday 8 January (11:30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
