Joe Root and Harry Brook combine to lift England to 211 for three

Joe Root and Harry Brook built England’s biggest stand of the Ashes series, lifting their side to 211 for three after a tricky start to the fifth and final Test in Sydney.

The Yorkshire pair came together at 57 for three following another rocky performance from the top order but heaped on another 154 without further loss to seize the moment on a flat pitch at the SCG.

Root was looking calm and controlled on 72 not out, with Brook a more hyperactive presence as he rushed to 78no.

Between them the pair tamed a home attack featuring no specialist spinner at this ground for the first time since 1888, with the reliably timid all-rounder Cameron Green looted for 57 runs in eight messy overs.

England were well on top when bad light stopped play 15 minutes before the tea break, Australia having run out of ideas and seemingly hanging in for the kind of self-inflicted collapse that has blighted the tourists’ trip.

The team-sheets saw both Shoaib Bashir and Todd Murphy omitted, neither entirely surprisingly given the dominance of the seamers in the previous four matches, with Ben Stokes winning a fourth toss to get first use of a welcoming track.

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley looked to make a positive start, sprinting a succession of early singles and pinging a couple of looseners to the ropes in the first two overs.

Duckett cranked things up a notch with four boundaries in the space of nine deliveries from attack leader Mitchell Starc but fell to the 10th in that sequence. It was a familiar departure, fending away from his body to a ball he might easily have left, feeding Starc his 27th success of an outstanding series. With one innings left, the out-of-sorts left-hander has a top score of 34 and an average of half that since touching down.

Australia applied the squeeze to England’s raw number three, Jacob Bethell, who took 15 balls to get off the mark and watched Zak Crawley fall lbw to the nagging Michael Neser shortly after arriving at the crease.

Bethell was unable to make a dent, nicking an expert lifter on 10 as Scott Boland probed away on a good length, to leave England wobbling on 57 for three. Another wicket would have left England in serious bother but their fourth-wicket pair clung on despite a taxing start.

Root swiped at fresh air off his first ball and survived an early lbw appeal, while Brook had minor scares off both edges before he got going. But they soon found some rhythm, doubling the score before lunch with Green donating generously.

They added another 97 in the afternoon, Root discovering his natural tempo as he threaded the ball cleverly in the gaps behind square and showed off his timing with some clean cover drives.

Brook was more reactive, repeatedly taking on Australia’s short-ball tempters. He flashed one thick edge over the cordon, mis-hit just past Mitchell Starc’s follow through and toe-ended a pull that landed agonisingly between three converging catchers.

But those mis-steps were mixed with a handful of smart singles, a furious blast for six as he aimed for the big screen and a glorious swat for four over extra-cover. Australia were glad of the break when they dark skies overpowered the floodlights, though the crowd seemed disgruntled to see the battle brought to a close.