Australia finally got through the stout bat of Cook (39 off 104) when Hazlewood trapped him in front after a successful review as England slumped to a shaky 95 for 3. The former England captain fell just five short of becoming the fifth player to make 12,000 Test runs.

Having recovered quickly from a bruised heel which kept him out of the Boxing Day Test, Starc struggled to reach 140kmh but bowled accurately after the tea break as runs were hard to muster for Root and Malan. A disappointed Root slumped to his knees in disbelief at the wicket, which ended a brave 133-run partnership with in-form No.5 Dawid Malan. Compounding the tourists' misery, in the last over before stumps Jonny Bairstow nicked Josh Hazlewood as a slumping England finished at 233 for the loss of 5 wickets with Malan unbeaten on a 160 balls fighting for 55 runs.

Root, England's best batsman, looked in fine touch but disappointingly has scored four half-centuries this series without posting triple figures. Continuing a bane throughout his stellar career, Root has a poor conversation having made just 13 tons from 49 scores above 50 in his Test career. The 27-year-old has been completely overshadowed by his counterpart Steve Smith, who has scored three defining centuries during a herculean series.