Brisbane, Australia: Michael Clarke and David Warner posted confidence-boosting centuries Saturday as Australia kept piling the pressure on England in the Ashes series opener, reaching 299-5 at tea on the third day to increase the overall lead to 458 runs.
Clarke was out for 113 just before tea at the Gabba, where he has scored five of his 25 test centuries, after sharing partnerships of 158 with Warner and 52 with George Bailey.
Warner was out for 124 earlier in the middle session after scoring his first Ashes hundred, and fourth overall.
Bailey, who was dropped on 17, was unbeaten on 33 at the interval after an eventual second test innings containing some half chances and two big sixes against the slow bowlers.
Clarke's Australians had a 159-run first-innings lead after scoring 295 and then skittling England for 136 on day two, including a stunning collapse of 6 wickets for nine runs in 58 balls.
If the hosts continue to dominate, a declaration was a possibility before stumps on the third day in the pursuit of a win. The biggest successful fourth-innings chase at the Gabba was Australia's 236-7 against the West Indies in 1951. England scored 370 in the fourth innings of the 2006 test here but lost the game.
Australia hasn't lost a test at the Gabba in 25 years, but did draw the corresponding match here in the 2010-11 Ashes series. England, which trailed after the first innings and then scored more than 500 in the second innings here in 2010, seized the momentum from that draw and went on to win the urn on Australian soil for the first time in 24 years. That was the second of England's three consecutive Ashes series wins, a roll they have brought to Australia.
Both Clarke and Warner started the series under pressure, and both responded emphatically.
Warner hit 13 boundaries a giant driven six which clattered into the sight screen to reach 124, but was out three balls later trying to run a ball from Broad down to the third man and instead feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
The combative, 27-year-old left-hander lost his place for two tests on the last Ashes tour after a night club altercation with England batsman Joe Root and later being dropped from Australia's limited-overs squad for a tour of India due to a lack of form.
Warner scored four centuries in domestic cricket to earn test selection and has cemented his opening spot with two assured innings. He batted with composure in the first innings until an ill-judged shot to Broad ended in dismissal on 49.
Clarke responded to concerns over his susceptibility to the short ball with consecutive boundaries against Broad, who was reintroduced to the attack almost as soon as the Australian captain got onto strike.
Clarke pulled a short ball for a boundary from near shoulder height and then hooked the next ball fine for another four to set up his innings. Broad had taken Clarke's wicket six times in recent Ashes tests, including the first innings here for one.
But it was Clarke who got on top quickly on a ground where he has scored more than 1,000 test runs and averages above 100.
He faced 130 balls and struck 10 boundaries and a six before he was bowled by Graeme Swann -- the England spinner's first wicket of the series -- just six minutes before the tea interval.
