England did not use nightwatchman yesterday, having lost a well-set Root in the 81st over with only two more to go in the day - a ploy that backfired as they lost Bairstow in the following over to go to stumps on 233 for 5. The move, Mitch Marsh admitted at the end of the day - surprised the Australian camp too.
Day 1 wasn't any different from what the story of this Ashes has been so far. England putting up a fight - in patches - and then squandering all the advantage in a jiffy. After Mark Stoneman fell, throwing away his wicket, Cook and James Vince put on a 60-run stand to revive England before Vince was also guilty of committing the same mistake as Stoneman. Cook fell to a good DRS review soon after, missing the 12,000 Test runs landmark by five runs, as England went into Tea break after throwing away the early advantage in the form of two late wickets in the session. Root and Malan then put on a brilliant 133-run stand for the fourth wicket to put the visitors back on the track but late strikes - Root (failing to covert another half-century!) and Bairstow (in instead of a nightwatchman) - helped Australia wrest control once again. England now have 233 for 5 on the board, with Malan unbeaten on 55 and a woefully out-of-form Moeen Ali to come, followed by the rest of the tail. All eyes would be on Malan and how much he can add to England's total with the tailenders. The pitch is a batting beauty, mind you.
First things first, it is bright and sunny in Sydney, in sharp contrast to the start we had yesterday!
We're up early! Play starts half an hour early on Day 2 to make up for the overs we lost yesterday due to a rained-out morning session. About 82 overs were still possible - 81.4 to be precise. That is when England lost Jonny Bairstow and stumps were called. Here's the report from Tristan Lavalette.
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