Starc takes six but Root's maiden Australia ton steers England past 300

Joe Root finally has a Test hundred in Australia. It took him 30 innings to get there, but it arrived on a day when England, trailing 1-0 in the Ashes, needed clarity and calm. Under the Gabba lights on the opening night of the pink-ball Test, Root's unbeaten 135 off 202 balls carried England to 325/9. No team has ever lost a day-night Test after scoring more than 300 in the first innings.

That England did not finish with more was down to Mitchell Starc, who returned figures of 6 for 71, going past Wasim Akram's wicket tally (414). It was Starc's sixth five-wicket haul in day-night Tests.

England took control after winning the toss and choosing to bat. The start was familiar, though. Starc struck in the first over again, drawing Ben Duckett into a poke outside off stump. In his next over, he sent back Ollie Pope for nought. Root walked in at 7 for 2. Starc beat him second ball, squared him up the next, only for the edge to fly through the slips. That, though, was the extent of his discomfort.

Zak Crawley helped stabilise England further. After bagging a pair at Perth, he found early rhythm. Crawley and Root added 117 for the third wicket.

Michael Neser, picked ahead of Nathan Lyon, broke the stand. His short ball took Crawley's under edge to the keeper.

Harry Brook was briefly the most entertaining element of the evening. He danced down to slash a hard length ball through point. Starc had him caught in the cordon, with Steven Smith taking the catch.

Ben Stokes looked troubled and out of rhythm again, and this time fell to a run-out of his own making, with Josh Inglis undoing him with a stunning throw from cover-point.

From 176/3, England began to wobble. Jamie Smith was the next to go when Scott Boland produced a ball that nipped through the gate.

Starc returned to clean up Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. Instead of declaring, Root and Jofra Archer kept batting, adding 61 off 44 balls in an audacious, unbeaten stand. It pushed England beyond 300 and set a new record for the highest tenth-wicket stand in a day-night Test.

Root remained the constant. He abandoned the fiddly dabs to third man, drove through the arc, worked the ball into gaps on the leg side and kept England from handing over the advantage they had built.

Brief Scores: England 325/9 (Root 135*, Crawley 76, Archer 32*; Starc 6-71) vs Australia