Fifth Test, day one: England 211-3 in 45 overs before bad light stops play
Undefeated duo put together tourists’ best partnership of series
The yin-and-yang of Harry Brook and Joe Root has headlined England’s best batting day of the Ashes, with the pair taking them to 211-3 before a storm hit the SCG on day one of the fifth Test.
Their side down 3-1 in the series and the Ashes decided, Brook and Root’s unbeaten 154-run counter-attacking stand helped rescue England from 57 for 3 on Sunday. The partnership is already England’s best of the tour, with Root unbeaten on 72 and Brook 78 when umpires took players from the field just before tea.
Rain and lightning stopped players returning before the day was abandoned under brighter skies and with no rain falling at 5pm. It came as Australia went without a spinner at the SCG for the first time in 138 years, with Todd Murphy left out and Beau Webster in the XI for Jhye Richardson.
