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Aggressive England declare on 393/8 after Joe Root's masterful 30th Test century
In a move typical of the unconventional, attacking approach adopted by England, they gave themselves 4 overs to bowl at Australia, without any success.
A masterful century from Joe Root, which made him just the second England player after Alastair Cook to score 30 Test tons, helped England smash 393 runs on the first day of the Ashes for the loss of eight wickets. In keeping with the aggressive style of cricket they have adopted under the leadership of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, England declared while being just seven runs away from reaching 400 and gave themselves four overs to bowl at the Australian openers. David Warner and Usman Khawaja survived and Australia ended Day 1 on 14/0.
Zak Crawley started the day with a four off the first ball. England were dominant for the first session which ended Crawley falling after scoring a half century. However, Australia fought back with the key wickets of Stokes and firebrand Harry Brook falling quickly and the home side were suddenly on 176-5 and staring at the possibility of being skittled out quickly.
However, as has been the case for many years, Root steadied the ship, putting together a partnership of 121 with fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow, who eventually fell for 78, to save his country in the hour of need again. Root then pulled out some outrageous shots as he batted with the tail and eventually scored his century.
It was only Root's fourth against Australia and he got there in 145 balls. He ended the innings by bludgeoning two sixes off Nathan Lyon, who ended up conceding a whopping 20 runs in that over. Root thus finished unbeaten on 118 off 152 balls, hitting seven fours anf four sixes. England did all they could to take a wicket before close of play, with Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson steaming in from either end, but David Warner and Usman Khawaja stood firm.
