Ashes 2017-18: England start off on a high, break 2013 Ashes record

The much awaited Ashes got underway with the two sides locking horns at the Gabba, Brisbane for the first Test. The visiting England side managed to have a cautious start against the much hyped Australian bowling attack. The last time the English side had arrived for the Ashes down under, they were drubbed 5-0. Needless to say, the nightmares of the horrific 2013 run was still afresh in the minds of the English fans.

But, much to their delight, England had a solid start on the first day of the game. In fact, the English top order managed to break a couple of records too on the very first day. Coming to the game, English skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first.

Mitchell Starc was venomous in his opening spell and accounted for the dismissal of Alastair Cook cheaply. Two relatively new English candidates, James Vince and Mark Stoneman, then joined hands at the crease. Not only did they see off the new ball, they also managed to put on runs on the board with some ease. The two batsmen put on a 125 run stand for the second wicket to even out the honors for the day to quite some extent.

Setting the records straight

For the records, this partnership of 125 between James Vince and Mark Stoneman, is higher than any of the English partnerships during the 2013-14 Ashes tour. During the 2013 Ashes, the highest partnership that the English team had was 111 run stand between Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen.

The two players had added 111 runs for the third wicket at the Adelaide Oval. Also, another interesting stat that comes this way is that the last time England had a century partnership on the opening day of an Ashes series in Australia was in 1986/87 (between Mike Gatting and Bill Athey adding 101 runs for the 2nd wicket).