At the end of the first session, England was 5/1, with Zak Crawley (1*) and Ollie Pope (0*) unbeaten. They need to chase down their highest ever total in Test history to win the third Test and keep the Ashes alive.
Australia's star opener Travis Head on Friday praised veteran batter Usman Khawaja's performance in the third Ashes test against England, highlighting the strength of their squad.
Usman Khawaja marked a remarkable Ashes return with a commanding fifty to power Australia to 194/5 at tea before missing on a well-deserved hundred in the third Test against England in Adelaide on Wednesday.
The attack, which took place on December 14 as crowds gathered to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, left fifteen people dead and several others injured in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
England passed up the chance to face Australia A on a major venue--potentially on a lively MCG pitch--opting instead to focus on a shortened Ashes tour schedule, which has left them trailing 0-2 with three Tests remaining, as per The Sydney Morning Herald.
"I'm not a selector, but what I will say is the same way they (selectors) looked at this game, they looked at the game objectively and said what was the best way for us to win this game with all the information we have on pink-ball cricket," Labuschagne noted.
Australia recorded the fifth-highest total without an individual century during the second Ashes Test at the Gabba on Saturday. During the second Test, Australia made 511 runs in the first innings after England were bundled out for 334.
Another commanding session for Australia after their star batter Marnus Labuschagne scored a superb half-century that left the hosts 106 runs behind England's first innings total of 334 at the end of the second session on Day 2 of the second Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday.