Joe Root hit a century as his fine form continued on day one of the 2015 Ashes in Cardiff, as an intriguing day of cricket was played out.
England finished the opening day of the series on 343-7 after a late figtback from Australia. The hosts dominated the afternoon session, but a flurry of wickets in the evening session saw the tourists level things up in an absorbing day's cricket.
Aussies got off to a flyer
After winning the toss and deciding to bat, it looked to have been a bad decision for England, as Alastair Cook's men slumped to 43-3. Josh Hazlewood found the outside edge of Adam Lyth's bat to have him caught at gully for six by David Warner.
Cook was the next man to go for 20, when he edged behind a Nathan Lyon delivery to Brad Haddin who took a smart catch.
Out of form Ian Bell didn't last long. An in-swinging Mitchell Starc ball was too good for Bell and gave the umpire an easy lbw decision to give.
Ballance and Root fight back
Joe Root and Gary Ballance led the fightback, with Root playing with his typical counter attacking approach. The pair put on 153 for the fourth wicket before Ballance fell for a hard earned 61.
The Yorkshire pair put in some really hard graft against a strong Australian bowling attack. Ballance found runs harder to come by than Root and had to face some quick short bowling from Mitchell Johnson but battled through to a half-century. Hazlewood ended the partnership, taking Ballance leg before wicket.
Root punishes Haddin howler
The 24-year-old hit a beautiful 134, but it wasn't without a bit of luck on the way. Root hadn't scored before edging a Starc to delivery Haddin, who somehow dropped it when it seemed harder to do that. A costly mistake to make against one of the most in-form batsmen in world cricket.
Tourists fight back late on
It wasn't a good afternoon session for the Australians, but three wickets for 63 runs in the evening session saw them get themselves back in the game. Ben Stokes hit a typically aggressive 52 before falling to a delightful out-swinger from Starc which rattled the stumps. Jos Buttler looked comfortable on his way to 27 before clipping a Hazlewood delivery to Johnson at mid-on.
On a fairly slow wicket, there was no luck for the aggressive Johnson as he finished the day with figures of 0-87 from 20 overs. It was the swing of Starc and accuracy of Hazlewood that saw them stay in the game.
Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad finished the day for England as they closed on 343-7.
Day two to come...
England will be hoping to get over the 400 mark when play resumes at 11:00 tomorrow morning. Ali will look to go on the attack with only Mark Wood and James Anderson left to bat. The Aussies, however, will be hoping to secure the last three wickets as quick as possible and get in to bat.
It's set up to be another good day of cricket as the biggest rivalry in the sport continues.