Century hero Joe Root admits England “have more work to do” to ensure Australia do not get into a dominant position in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane on day three.
Root ended a painfully long wait for an Ashes century on Australian soil in heroic style, steering Ben Stokes’ tourists from a precarious five for two on day one to 334 all out at the start of day two.
The Yorkshire batter finished on 138no off 206 balls, with opener Zak Crawley (76 off 93) and tailender Jofra Archer (38 off 36) chipping in with useful scores to post a competitive first-innings total in the pink-ball Test at The Gabba.
The hosts got off to a solid start, however, and reached 77 before losing their first wicket, with Brydon Carse snaring the dangerous Travis Head for 33.
Erratic England bowling
Stokes’ bowling unit struggled for line and length and got punished by several Australian batters, with Steve Smith (61), Marnus Labuschagne (65), Jake Weatherald (72) and Cameron Green (45) all helping the Aussies reach a commanding 378-6 by stumps for a lead of 44 runs.
Australia’s first-Test tormentor Mitchell Starc finished with figures of six for 75, and England struggled to match his intensity, with Carse proving expensive (3-113 from 17 overs).
Costly drops
England were also sloppy in the field, dropping five catches on day two to ensure the hosts ended the day with their tails up.
Alex Carey ended the day on 46 not out off 45 balls – but was dropped first ball by Ben Duckett at gully and then again on 25 by Root at slip off Gus Atkinson.
Duckett also dropped Josh Inglis (23) at gully, while Michael Neser (15no) was shelled by Carse.
Not at our best
Root told TNT Sports: “It’s clear we weren’t at our best today, but the way we dragged things back in the last session in particular – taking wickets in a cluster – shows the nature of how this pink-ball game can be.
“We’ve obviously got more work to do but we’re certainly well and truly in this game.
“If we get things right in the morning, we can put ourselves in a strong position. It looks like there might be a few cracks to work with later in the game.”
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Enjoyable moment
When talking about his century achievement, he said on Sky Sports: “Any time you play in an Ashes series and you contribute, that means a huge amount.
“It was clearly very enjoyable – but the most important thing was, from being 5-2, getting us into a position where we were massively in the game.
“I’ve tried not to approach things any differently. I’ve got quite a clear plan of how I score my runs, so I’ve just got to back myself.
“If I do that for long periods of time, I’ll be successful.”
Not perfect
“We’re not perfect, we’re all human and we’re going to make mistakes. But it’s how we respond,” Root added.
“It’s about making sure we turn up with the right frame of mind, right attitude and knowing our best game of cricket is good enough to do very special things here.
“The wheels could have come off and at other times, probably on a tour where I was captain, they would have.
“But we know our best cricket and when we execute well, we’re a very difficult side to play against.
“I don’t think we’re massively out of it at all.”
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