England’s senior batter Joe Root and the in-form Harry Brook displayed remarkable composure and skill to blunt Australia’s pace attack on Day 1 of the fifth and final Ashes Test, as rain repeatedly disrupted play at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, January 4.

After England captain Ben Stokes opted to bat first in front of a packed SCG crowd, the visitors found stability thanksto an unbeaten 154-run stand between Root and Brook. The duo guided England to 211 for 3 before fading light forced the players off the field shortly before the tea interval.

Persistent rain and the looming threat of lightning prevented any further action, leading officials to call stumps an hour early on a stop-start opening day.

At the close of play on Day 1, England appeared to hold the advantage in the rain-affected contest, with Root and Brook firmly in control and wickets in hand as the series finale delicately balanced.

Stumps – Day 1
5th Test, Ashes Series
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
England 1st Innings: 211/3 (45 overs)

AUS 186/4 INDIA YET TO BAT

IND bowling

AUS BATTING

S Smith 36* (53)

M Labuschagne :24*(32)

V. Chakaravarthy: 1/11 (3.0)

A. Patel: 0/8 (2.0)

Live score updates for the India vs Australia semi-final match show Australia’s run rate dropping to 6.00 as they aim to recover from losing Travis Head. Varun Chakravarthy’s impressive bowling performance helps India maintain pressure on Australia, with him conceding only three runs in his over. Steven Smith (19 off 21, 2 × 4) remains steady, while Marnus Labuschagne (2 off 3) is settling in. Axar Patel (1-0-5-0) will continue from the other end, aiming to apply more pressure. IND vs AUS LIVE Score, Champions Trophy 2025 Semi Final: Steve Smith survived a very eventful over from Axar Patel, escaping a run-out and then breathing a sigh of relief when the bails didn’t dislodge despite the ball hitting the stumps. India has clawed their way back into this contest, piling up the dot balls as pressure is beginning to show on Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. Varun Chakaravarthy, into his first over, sent back the dangerous Travis Head for 39. Head was starting to look dangerous for India, having smashed five boundaries and two sixes, before Rohit Sharma turned to his Player of the Match from the previous game. Chakaravarthy’s mystery did the trick as Head failed to get completely underneath the ball and skied it to Kuldeep Yadav at long-on. Before dismissing Head, India drew first blood in the third over of the match, with Shami dismissing Cooper Connolly for a duck, making up for dropping Travis Head on the first ball of the game. Rohit Sharma lost yet another toss– India’s 14th in a row, but Australia captain Steve Smith called it right and opted to bat. Varun Chakaravarthy retained his place in the Playing XI as India went in with an unchanged side. Two changes for Australia, though, with Cooper Connolly replacing the injured Matthew Short and Jason Sangha coming in for Spencer Johnson. Rohit Sharma lost yet another toss– India’s 14th in a row, but Australia captain Steve Smith called it right and opted to bat. Varun Chakaravarthy retained his place in the Playing XI as India went in with an unchanged side. Two changes for Australia, though, with Cooper Connolly replacing the injured Matthew Short and Jason Sangha coming in for Spencer Johnson. There is always an aura of invincibility about Australia, but quite astonishingly, that seemed to fade a bit for Indian fans in particular between, say, 2016 and 2021. In this period, India won both the matches they played against Australia in ICC tournaments – in the 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2019 World Cup, and went on a run of four consecutive series wins in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, including two Down Under itself.