Joe Root, Dawid Malan Lead England's Fightback In 1st Ashes Test

Joe Root and Dawid Malan batted through the final session to give England some hope of salvaging a draw in the opening Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba on Friday.

Joe Root and Dawid Malan batted through the final session to give England some hope of salvaging a draw in the opening Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba on Friday. England were 220-2 at the close of play, with skipper Root on 86 and Malan 80, only 58 runs behind Australia after starting their second innings 278 runs in arrears. After England lost both openers in the session before tea, Root and Malan looked increasingly comfortable on the third day Gabba pitch as they steadily wore down the Australian attack. Root's 86 not out is one short of his highest score in Australia and took him past 1500 -- 1541 -- runs in a calendar year, the most ever by an Englishman, surpassing Michael Vaughan's 1481 in 2002.

He barely offered a chance in his innings, stroking 10 boundaries, including a sublime reverse sweep off spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon, still searching for his 400th Test wicket, never looked like breaking through against the English batters.

The South African-born Malan scored his only Test century on the last tour of Australia and although not as comfortable as his captain, he also looked in control for most of his innings.

He did struggle with fatigue towards the close, however, and at one stage went down with cramp.