Root, Brook tame Australia

Joe Root and Harry Brook tamed Australia’s all-pace attack with an unbroken 154-run stand on Sunday to rescue England and give them the upper hand after a rain-battered day in one of the fifth and final Ashes Tests.

Winning after skipper Ben Stokes won the toss at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground, they led the tourists to 211-3 when bad light forced the players off the field just before tea.

Subsequent rain and the risk of lightning prevented further play, with stumps being called an hour earlier.

Root was not out on 72 and Brook on 78 after joining with England reeling at 57-3 after the wickets of Ben Duckett (27), Zak Crawley (16) and Jacob Bethell (10) before lunch.

The world’s top ranked batsmen started to counter-attack on a decent batting pitch providing some movement to the bowlers.

Both produced hard-hitting half-centuries and, with the dark storm clouds looming, kept the scoreboard running at a brisk clip.

“We’re in a really good position, obviously three down at the end of the game,” Brook said.

“Hopefully we can make the most of it tomorrow.

“It was a good pitch,” he added.

“When I first came in I felt the bounce was quite steep. But then it started to get a bit lower and slower and overall it felt like a good wicket.”

England went into the game buoyed by a four-wicket win in two days in the previous Test in Melbourne, desperate to maintain the momentum.

That victory snapped a 15-year winless streak in Australia, but came too late to save the series, with the home side retaining the pot by winning in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Australia sprung a surprise by including the all-rounder Beau Webster in place of quick Jhye Richardson, with Todd Murphy overlooked.

“I hate doing it”

It is the first time in almost 140 years that the hosts have not played a champion during a Test in Sydney.

“I hate to do it,” Australia skipper Steve Smith said.

“But if we continue to produce doors that we don’t think will rotate and the seams are going to play a big role and the cracks are going to play a big role, you’re going to be pushed into a corner.”

England brought on all-rounder Matthew Potts for the injured Gus Atkinson in their only change, with front-row slow bowler Shoaib Bashir missing for a fifth successive Test.

The day began with a tribute to the first responders to last month’s mass attack in Bondi that killed 15 people, with huge cheers as hero Ahmed Al Ahmed appeared to tackle one of the gunmen.

Duckett was lively when the game started, smashing five boundaries off Mitchell Starc in a quickfire 27 off 24 balls.

But England’s captain tormentor Mitchell Starc had the last laugh, luring an outside edge from a corner ball to keeper Alex Carey at full length.

It was the fifth time Starc had Duckett in this series.

Crawley was next, trapped lbw by Michael Neser, with the two openers back in the sheds from the first drinks break and the tourists in trouble at 51-2.

A cautious Bethell took 15 balls to get off the mark and never looked confident.

He departed after advancing a stirring delivery from Scott Boland that took a faint edge to Carey as England slumped to 57-3.

Root joined Brook at the crease and they began to rebuild.

They rotated the batting well and punished any loose balls with Root bringing up his 67th half-century and 100 partnership, with a single off Webster.

Only Indian great Sachin Tendulkar, with 68, has scored more Test fifties.

Brook was lucky to survive on 45 when he hit Starc and the ball fell between three chasing players.

But he kept his cool to reach his 15th half-century four balls after Root, smashing Webster through the covers for a boundary.