12th over: England 58-2 (Crawley 37, Root 17) Joe Root does well to dig out a yorker from Scott Boland – it seemed to take the batter by surprise. The England No 4 finishes the over with a textbook off-drive to the boundary. That might be the shot of the day so far and brings up the 50-run partnership before the players take a break for drinks. An entertaining first hour was almost worth the 12-day wait between Tests.
11th over: England 51-2 (Crawley 36, Root 11) Brendan Doggett takes the pink ball and the England batters will be relieved to see the back of Mitchell Starc for now. The left-armer heads to the rooms for a breather. Root picks up an easy three with a controlled cut shot, and Crawley finds the same with another well-timed drive.
10th over: England 45-2 (Crawley 33, Root 8) Australia rise as one in the hope that Zak Crawley has nicked a loose pull shot on the way through to the keeper. The ball is high and wide of offstump as it flicks the pad on the way past and Steve Smith has no interest in a review. Boland is testing the England pair but their blossoming partnership is now out to 40 runs.
England have done well to recover from another horror start at the hands of Mitchell Starc. Tom Nolan insists he is “keeping the faith for now” as he adds …
