Root, Malan stage England's comeback after early blows

Brisbane: Joe Root and Dawid Malan kept the hopes alive for England as the two batters remained unbeaten by the end of Day 3 of the ongoing first Ashes Test here at the Gabba, Brisbane on Friday.

At the stumps, England’s score read 220/2– trailing by 58 runs. Malan and Root have played unbeaten knocks of 80 and 86 runs respectively. Resuming the third session at 107/2 and trailing by 171 runs, the innings acted as a comeback show for the Three Lions as they kept the scoreboard moving. The duo of Malan and Root came to bat during the second session and remained unbeaten since.

Earlier, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed provided England with a stable innings but they faced a body blow straight away as Australia skipper Pat Cummins removed Burns (13) in the 9th over of the innings. Malan then joined Hameed in the middle and the duo put on 38 runs for the second wicket.

However, as soon as both batters started to look comfortable in the middle, Mitchell Starc got the better of Hameed (27) and England was reduced to 61/2 in the 21st over, still trailing by 217 runs.

In the morning, Australia managed to add 82 more runs to the total, extending the lead to 278. In the end, Australia was bundled out for 425 in the first innings.

Travis Head was the last wicket to fall, but it was not before he managed to score 152. Mitchell Starc also chipped in with 35 runs while Nathan Lyon scored 15.

Brief Scores: England 147 and 220/2 (Dawid Malan 80*, Joe Root 86*; Pat Cummins 1-43); Australia 425.