Ashes 2017, Australia vs England, 1st Test: Day 1 at The Gabba

Pat Cummins picked up two vital wickets to restore some confidence in Australia's pace trio after a pair of unheralded batsmen grinded through most of the opening day of the Ashes series to help England reach 1964 at stumps. Cummins (2/59) bowled Stoneman in the last over of a middle session delayed for more than an hour by rain. He came back in the evening session - after Nathan Lyon had brilliantly run out Vince to trap England skipper Joe Root (15) lbw, getting a not-out decision overturned, and ensuring the day swung back in Australia's favour.

James Vince 83 and Mark Stoneman 53 combined defiantly in their first experience of Ashes cricket to blunt the much-hyped pace attack, each posting their highest Test scores in a 125-run second-wicket stand. At stumps, Dawid Malan was unbeaten on 28 and Moeen Ali was on 13 when bad light stopped play in the 81st over, three balls after Australia took the new ball and one after Mitchell Starc had a review of an lbw decision rejected.

Vince rarely played a loose stroke in four hours and 170 balls. He did get a reprieve on 68, though, when recalled wicketkeeper Tim Paine put down a routine chance off Lyon's bowling late in the middle session. Stoneman improved by one on his previous high test score before Cummins beat him with a ball that jagged back off the seam to collect his first test wicket on Australian soil. The banter and bluster from the Australians leading up to the Gabba Test centered on their 5-0 sweep here the last time England toured in 2013-14, when a local pace trio spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson intimidated the batsmen and set the foundation for a series domination.

The day started according to the Australia's pre-series script, with Mitchell Starc striking in the third over to have former England captain Alastair Cook 2 caught at first slip with the total at two. The banter and bluster from the Australians leading up to the Gabba test centered on their 5-0 sweep here the last time England toured in 2013-14, when a local pace trio spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson intimidated the batsmen and set the foundation for a series domination. Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins toiled in slightly damp conditions before and after a rain-delay on a wicket yet to produce the kind of extra bounce that the Brisbane venue is famous for. The Australian quicks were under the spotlight from the first ball after losing the toss at the Gabba, where they're all playing their first Ashes match on home soil and where the Australians haven't lost a test since 1988.

England captain Joe Root failed to make it count and was out leg-before-wicket by a delivery from Pat Cummins of Australia during day one of the first Test in Brisbane.