saw a mini-partnership develop between him and captain Alastair Cook, before Cook (20) edged a ball from spinner Nathan Lyon to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, followed almost immediately by Ian Bell (1), trapped LBW by Mitchell Starc. That brought Joe Root to the crease to join his Yorkshire teammate Ballance. In what was undoubtedly the turning point in the match, Haddin dropped a fairly regulation catch from the bowling of Starc on Root's second delivery. The dismissal would have reduced England to 43/4 after they chose to bat first, but after the let off the pair raced to their respective fifties, putting on 153 runs for the fourth wicket before Ballance was trapped LBW by Josh Hazlewood for 61. Root and Ben Stokes then shared a fifth-wicket stand of 84 before Root was caught out by Shane Watson off Starc for a total of 134, having rescued England from 43/3 to 280/5. Stokes completed his half-century before he was bowled by Starc for 52, and Jos Buttler was also out for 27 after a seventh-wicket stand of exactly 50 with Moeen Ali, but England managed to see out the day on 343/7. Having been 26 not out overnight, Moeen Ali added another 51 runs on the morning of the second day before he was caught out by Watson off Starc. Stuart Broad's 18 was the only significant contribution to the England total among the tail, and Starc completed a five-wicket haul when he bowled James Anderson to end the England innings on 430. Australia made a steady start to their response, putting on 52 runs before David Warner was caught by Cook in the slips for 17. Next to go for Australia was Steve Smith, recently ranked as the best Test batsman in the world, caught at short mid-on by Cook off the bowling of Moeen Ali for 33. Meanwhile, Chris Rogers reached 95 before edging a ball from Mark Wood through to Buttler to become the first player to record seven consecutive Test fifties without converting one to a century; it was also Wood's maiden Ashes wicket. A second wicket for Moeen Ali soon followed, as he caught Australia captain Michael Clarke off his own bowling. A 50-run partnership between Adam Voges and Shane Watson for the fifth wicket was ended shortly before the end of the day, with Voges caught by Anderson off Stokes for 31, leaving Australia on