Ashes: England off to a good start with Malan's hundred
The 3rd Ashes Test between Australia and England is off to a promising start for the visitors with Englishman Dawid Malan scoring his maiden Test century. Entering the 3rd Test with a 2-0 deficit, England had their finest day of this season's Ashes series, at the WACA ground. Let's look at the Day 1 highlights of the match.
3rd Test - Team changes
The 3rd Test saw no change to the England side that lost by 120 runs in Adelaide. Instead, there was a change in the batting order wherein Jonny Bairstow was brought ahead to bat at No. 6 and Moeen Ali down to No. 7. Australian team, on the other hand, made one change to bring in bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in place of Handscomb.
Toss & 1st innings
England won the toss and opted to bat first in the 3rd Test. While a victory here would give Aussies an unassailable 3-0 lead, England managed to put a good score on board in their first innings ending the day 1 at 305/4. Mark Stoneman, Dawid Malan, and Jonny Bairstow contributed significantly to the total, scoring 56, 110*, and 75*, respectively.
Cook's 150th Test
This was Alastair Cook's 150th Test appearance for England which, however, ended on a disappointing note with him scoring just 7 runs before being adjudged out leg before.
Malan-Bairstow stand the key
While WACA has not been a happy hunting ground for England, with today's performance they have given themselves a chance to set the record straight. Dawid Malan-Jonny Bairstow's unbeaten 174-run partnership is the highest 5th wicket stand for England at WACA. It is also England team's best Ashes stand in Australia since their 2nd Test of the 2010-11 campaign.
