Joe Root scored his first Ashes century in Australia as he navigated testing conditions on day one of the second Test in Brisbane.
His 100 came off 181 balls and was his 30th attempt in 16 Tests to reach three figures in an away Ashes series. It was his fifth against Australia and 40th overall.
Before the series there was plenty of talk about Root’s record in Australia, the only country where he had yet to make a century. He had previously played 27 innings in the country with a highest score of 89 before the first Test in Perth.
Two single figure outings at the Optus stadium did little to suggest he could overcome the ‘Average Joe’ nickname given to him by the Australian media but Root’s composure and application at the Gabba proved crucial.
Ben Stokes won the toss at the Gabba and decided to bat first in the day-night pink ball Test but England suffered a shocking start as Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope fell cheaply.
That brought Root to the crease with the score at 5-2 but a characteristically watchful but busy innings from the 34-year-old guided England out of trouble three times.
With Zak Crawley taking the more aggressive role of counterattacking for a well worked 76, Root accumulated his runs across the opening two sessions where conditions and a soft ball were more conducive to batting.
Following a quickfire 31 from Harry Brook, Root was at the other end when Stokes ran himself out for 19 and Jamie Smith was uprooted by a jaffer from Scott Boland to leave England wobbling at 211-6.
Root was still over 20 runs short of a hundred with the ball starting to move through the air and off the pitch under the lights at the Gabba with the final session the most difficult conditions to bat in.
But, upon entering the 90s he dispatched two fours as Australia resorted to a short ball tactic in an attempt to draw out a mistake from England’s number four.
Mitchell Starc was brought back into the attack restricting Root to singles as he edged closer to the landmark. The nerves grew as Will Jacks was caught in the slips with Root on 98 but a flick off his legs brought another boundary and his landmark.
Root’s hundred and a late flurry from Jofra Archer (32*) helped England to 325-9 at the end of day one in Brisbane.
