Dawid Malan's brilliant ton helped England score 305/4 in their first innings against Australia on the opening day of the Third Ashes Test match here on Thursday.
England were struggling when Malan (110 not out) came in the middle. By stumps, Malan had played 174 balls and slammed 15 boundaries and one six.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow (75 not out) was also at the crease when umpires dislodged the bails for the day.
Deciding to bat, England started off on a poor note as they lost their experienced batsman Alastair Cook (7) with just 26 runs on the board. He was dismissed by pacer Mitchell Starc.
Incoming batsman James Vince (25) then joined Mark Stoneman (56) and the duo played sensibly.
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But just when things seemed good in the middle, Vince was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood.
Skipper Joe Root (20) also failed to fire and both were dismissed by Pat Cummins. After adding a few more runs to the board, Stoneman was sent packing by Starc.
But Malan and Bairstow then came together and from 131/4 the duo went on to add 174 runs and made sure the visitors reached the 300-run mark without losing any more wickets.
For Australia, Mitchell Starc scalped two wickets while Hazlewood and Cummins chipped in with one wicket each.
Brief scores: England 305/4 (Dawid Malan 110 not out, Jonny Bairstow 75 not out; Mitchell Starc 2/79) against Australia.
--IANS
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