England’s Joe Root conquered his final frontier with a first Ashes century in Australia as the tourists pushed past 300 on the first day of the second Test in Brisbane despite a six-wicket haul from pace spearhead Mitchell Starc.

Root marched off unbeaten on 135 off 202 balls after a late flogging of the pink ball under the Gabba floodlights on Thursday, with England 325 for nine after captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat.

Number 11 batter Jofra Archer chipped in a handy 32 not out in an unbroken 61-run partnership for the final wicket, while Zak Crawley shrugged off a pair of ducks from Perth to score a valuable 76.

Crawley combined with Root in a 117-run partnership to rally England after Starc reduced them to five for two in a disastrous start, with opener Ben Duckett a

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