Johnson took the new ball at the other end and had it swinging at once. Banton played and missed at the opening delivery, then got a thick edge that popped through the gully and fell safely for a single. He later whipped two off his pads, with Beardman diving on the rope to save a boundary, and swung hard away from his body to lift a thick edge over the slips for four. England reached 15 without loss after two overs, Banton on 11.
Banton’s start did not last. He threw his hands at a wider ball and edged it; Josh Inglis dived in front of first slip and took the catch cleanly.
Johnson then removed the dangerous Duckett. The opener tried to drive a delivery that pitched back of a length and paid for it. A later angled ball drew a thick edge from a right-hander’s defensive prod, and Inglis pulled down a second diving catch of the innings.
Root was slow to find his range. He had five runs from 22 balls at one stage, including a single from a mis-timed drive that bounced into his pads. Beardman, bowling at more than 140km/h, finished a tidy maiden to him. Johnson later dug in a shorter ball that Root evaded before taking a single toward mid-on.
Root remained out of touch across most of a 36-ball stay. A half-hearted drive found only an edge, and Inglis was called into action behind the stumps again. Bartlett, into a seventh over as his pace began to subside, had England 49 for three in the 13th, Root on 11 and Cox on 1.
On paper, one assessment before the match had England’s side as stronger than the team Australia had fielded. The first hour told a different story, with Inglis busy behind the stumps and the makeshift pace attack doing the damage Cummins had asked for.