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Fifth Test, day one: England 211-3 in 45 overs before bad light stops play
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Undefeated duo put together tourists’ best partnership of series
As the rain fell on the Sydney Cricket Ground, cutting the opening day of this fifth Ashes Test into exactly half the number of allotted overs, you could practically hear the champagne corks being popped in the Cricket Australia offices. Perhaps the groundsman’s hut also.
The huge losses incurred by the two-dayers in Perth and Melbourne put CA and the SCG on red alert as regards a repeat. Unless something absurd were to happen on the second day – England had reached 211 for three when play was eventually abandoned at 5pm on the first – this series finale should last a fair bit longer.
