Just when it looked like Ashes 2017-18 if finally set to witness a Joe Root special, Mitchell Starc cut short his innings at 83. The England fans again went silent as they watched their captain walk off the field after an innings which promised more than delivered. Dawid Malan at the other end watched the story unfold and at the end of the day returned unbeaten on 55.

Post the day’s play in a media interaction Malan spoke highly of his captain and what he can do when if he converts his starts. "Joe’s disappointed when he gets out whether he scores 150 or he scores 50. No matter who you are you want to be scoring 100s," said Malan.

"In his own mind he's probably a bit disappointed he doesn’t convert more, but he's still contributing for the team and putting the team in really good positions.He still averages (52) in test cricket and the day will come when he will probably start converting as well as Steve Smith does or the other greats have done”.

"And when that happens, it will be scary to see how good he can be and how high his average can jump to."

Malan shared a 133-run partnership with Root that looked to have secured the honours of the day for England before two late wickets with the second new ball left them wobbling on 233 for five.

"I think the position we were in tonight before those last two wickets, I think we would have been aiming for 400 to 450 at least," said Malan, who finished unbeaten on 55.

"Losing these two wickets has put us back a bit, but there’s still no reason why, if we can get through that new ball tomorrow, we can’t get another 150 runs”, Malan concluded.