Harry Brook took some time to settle in, but once he got going, Root took the secondary role. Brook was aided by a couple of short deliveries by Lyon and he duly put them away to welcome the offspinner into the attack with boundaries. Root, who had slowed down for a brief period decided to attack the offie soon after the drinks interval but missed out on a big hit after stepping out against the spinner and was stumped with ease on 46.

With the ball moving around a bit, England slowed down considerably after Root’s dismissal. Brook, who had been tied down for a while, eventually fell while looking to break-free. He pulled Lyon straight to the mid wicket fielder, and departed four short of a fifty.

England, uncharacteristically, made a watchful start post Lunch, after having been tested for a brief period late in the morning session. However, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow managed to add 46 runs for the sixth wicket before the latter was eventually trapped leg-before by Lyon. He took a review for the second time in his innings, but this one didn’t come to his rescue.

Stokes was the more aggressive of the two in the partnership, taking advantage of the width offered by Boland and Cummins, cracking the duo for a couple of boundaries each. While he took advantage of Boland’s lines, he tried to disturb Cummins’ length. Just when it seemed Bairstow had settled in and smashed a couple of boundaries off the Australian captain through the point-cover region, he fell.

Stokes departed soon after, undone by an incoming delivery from Cummins. He also took a review which showed that the ball would’ve clipped the top of the legstump. He became the third English batter to have missed out on a half-century on Monday (19)

Josh Hazlewood bowled a testing spell of short-picthed deliveries and nearly had Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad caught fending. But despite the best diving efforts of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, the duo survived. However, Moeen Ali was caught behind nicking a short delivery down the legside.

Despite reducing England 229/8 in the third quarter of the post-Lunch session, Australia had to wait for 70 balls to dismiss the last two batters, a period in which England managed to add 44 runs. Lyon and Cummins eventually cleaned up the tail, setting base for an interesting fourth innings.

In response, Australia, after three poor starts in England this summer, finally managed a good one with openers – Khawaja and David Warner stitching a half-century stand. There wasn’t much assistance for the pacers, and Khawaja got going with a couple of boundaries in the first over of the chase itself. Warner, on the other hand, took his time to settle in.

Soon enough, the duo went conservative with their stroke play, playing out the first hour of the post Tea session rather dourly. Barring a couple of deliveries from Moeen Ali that ripped past them, there wasn’t much danger posed by the English attack. Robinson, who had bowled a couple of maiden overs on a trot, began to lose his line and length and offered ample opportunities for Warner and Khawaja to score some easy boundaries.

However, just when it seemed like Warner was getting comfortable, a delivery from Robinson from round the wicket nibbled away slightly and caught the outside edge of his bat to the ‘keeper.

Labuschagne took little time to settle at the crease. He got going by reverse sweeping Moeen for a boundary, and followed it up with a couple of more hits to the fence. But his stay was short-lived. For the second time in the match, he was caught edging an out-swinger by Broad to the ‘keeper.

After a half-century stand to begin with, Australia failed to capitalise, and England sneaked with another wicket late in the day, with Smith too falling for an out-swinger – looking to drive at a full delivery but only edging to the ‘keeper.

Boland, who was brought in as a nightwatchman for the last 20 minutes of play, did well to keep Khawaja safe at the other end and even picked up three boundaries to help Australia past the 100-run mark.

Brief Scores:

England 393/8 decl. (Joe Root 112*, Jonny Bairstow 78, Zak Crawley 61; Nathan Lyon 4-149, Josh Hazlewood 2-61) & 273 (Joe Root 46, Harry Brook 46; Pat Cummins 2-63, Nathan Lyon 2-80) lead Australia 386 (Usman Khawaja 141, Alex Carey 66, Travis Head 50; Ollie Robinson 3-55, Stuart Broad 3-68) & 107/3 (David Warner 36; Stuart Broad 2-28) by 173 runs