Australia 88-2 at tea, replying to England’s 403 in 3rd test

Warner in Jarnuary 2014 (Photo By NAPARAZZI – DAVID WARNER, CC BY-SA 2.0)

PERTH, Australia — Australia lost openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft before reaching tea at 88-2 on Friday after dismissing England for 403 earlier on day two of the third Ashes test.

Dawid Malan (140) and Jonny Bairstow (119) both posted centuries after England resumed on 305-4 and produced the most productive partnership of the series for the tourists before another late collapse, with the last six wickets falling for 35 runs in 50 deliveries.

England struck back with the ball, though, with Craig Overton (2-31) having David Warner (22) caught behind and then successfully reviewing an lbw decision against Cameron Bancroft (25) after it was initially rejected.

Skipper Steve Smith (24) and Usman Khawaja (14) added 33 for the third wicket and were unbeaten at the break.

Australia may have been in more trouble had Overton hung onto a leading edge offered by Khawaja three balls after dismissing Warner.

Earlier, Malan and Bairstow shared a record 237-run fifth wicket stand to help England post its first 400-run total in 15 Ashes test innings in Australia. The pair came together with England in trouble at 131-4 and endured a barrage of bouncers to lift England to a comfortable position before the lower-order collapse that was triggered by Malan’s departure.

After Milan was brilliantly caught by substitute Peter Handscomb, Bairstow’s faultless innings ended when he was bowled middle stump by left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc (4-91).

Malan and Moeen Ali (0) were dismissed within the space of four balls and the rest soon followed with Josh Hazlewood returning 3-92 and Pat Cummins taking 2-84.

The Malan-Bairstow stand in five hours is the highest fifth-wicket stand for England in Ashes tests, surpassing the Eddie Paynter and Denis Compton partnership of 206 runs at Trent Bridge in 1938.

Bairstow, batting at his preferred No. 6, celebrated his fourth test century — and first in the Ashes — in front of a sellout crowd at the WACA ground. He punched the air and head-butted his helmet on reaching his triple figures, a humorous reference to his infamous episode at a Perth bar at the start of tour.

Bairstow batted for 322 minute and faced 215 balls, plundering 18 fours.

Malan batted for 323 minutes and hit a six and 19 boundaries off 227 balls, posting the first century by an England batsman in the series.

Needing to avoid defeat in Perth to have any chance of salvaging the five-match series, England won the toss and batted and produced its most positive innings of the tour after heavy losses in the first two tests in Brisbane and Adelaide.