England has uncovered its latest Ashes hero, with opener Rory Burns grinding his way to a maiden Test century as the hosts dominated day two at Edgbaston.
After Steve Smith's day-one heroics, Burns (125 not out) took up the mantle of the awkward-looking batsman notching a pivotal ton on a pitch that did not make scoring easy, guiding his team to 4-267 at stumps, trailing Australia by just 17 runs.
It was a day of toil and near misses for Australia in the field, as Tim Paine's team was left to rue some misfortune as England's batsmen — led by Burns and captain Joe Root's (57) — ensured the team will be able to take a first-innings lead early on day three.
Burns set the tone for the rest of his innings early. He was not always completely convincing, and his unorthodox batting stance and setup may have looked a little ungainly, but he was compact in defence and effective when the time came to attack.
In contrast, opening partner Jason Roy never looked comfortable, and it was no surprise that he fell early edging James Pattinson to Smith in the slips.
That brought Root to the crease, and he and Burns set about establishing a lengthy partnership — but not without some luck.
Burns was struck on the pad by a Nathan Lyon delivery in one of the spinner's early overs, prompting a confident appeal. But when the umpire turned the shout down, the Australians opted against a review.
Replays showed that was a poor choice — Burns was, in fact, out LBW.
While he was making the most of a life, Root got one of his own. Initially given out caught behind, Root reviewed the decision immediately and replays quickly proved he did not nick it, and instead the ball from Pattinson had hit the top of the off-stump without dislodging the bail.
The Australians could rightly feel frustrated, and as the English pair mixed solid defence, classy strokeplay and plenty of fortuitous edges, that frustration only grew.
Both Root and Burns passed half-centuries, and the skipper looked set for a big one, until the tenacious and indefatigable Peter Siddle forced a slight misjudgement. Root chipped the ball back towards the bowler, who stuck out a hand to take a sharp catch.
But Burns continued on his merry way. Happy to play and miss at numerous deliveries, he sprinkled in plenty of wonderful driving, particularly straight down the ground, as he closed in on a century.
Joe Denly partnered him for a while, but fell victim to a tidy piece of bowling from Pattinson — helped by a change in ball, which sparked the sudden introduction of reverse swing — and was trapped LBW.
The extra life in the ball brought Australia to life late in the day, Jos Buttler falling cheaply after Pat Cummins squared him up and nicked him off to Cameron Bancroft at third slip.
At that point, all focus turned to Burns and his pursuit of a century on his Ashes debut. His lengthy stint in the nervous 90s was torturous, with the outside edge of his bat beaten nearly a dozen times as he desperately tried to eke out the final runs.
Right to the last he ran it close. After an eternity on 99, Burns dropped a ran a quick single to mid-on. Cummins threw the stumps down, forcing a third umpire review, but Burns knew he had made his ground and completed a meaningful century.
He and Ben Stokes (37 not out) made it to the end of day unscathed despite a number of close calls, particularly against Lyon, with the English crowd growing in voice, cheering every successfully negotiated delivery as the shadows grew longer and the scoreboard ticked over.
Look back at how day two unfolded in our live blog.
