Honours shared on day one

Trailing 1-0 in the five-Test series, England could do little about the coin-toss, but will rue some poor fielding late in the day, with three dropped catches letting Australia off the hook. Australia captain Michael Clarke was dropped twice in the final session and staggered to 48 not out at stumps, with Brad Haddin at the other end on seven. Blessed to bat first on a gentle Adelaide Oval wicket, Australia failed to cash in with four of their five batsmen throwing away their wickets after making promising starts. George Bailey became the third Australian batsman to score a half-century in the final hour's play.

Clarke was then dropped on 18, with a diving Joe Root unable to bring down a flick to mid-wicket from the Australian captain off Swann. He was put down again by Michael Carberry at backward point off the bowling of Panesar when he had reached 43.

England's task could have been yet steeper, however, with Australia having cruised to 155-1 midway through the second session before Watson underlined his habit of failing to convert starts by spooning a catch back to bowler James Anderson.

That ended a 121-run partnership with Rogers and sparked a collapse as Australia lost three wickets for 19 runs and were reduced to 174-4 at tea. Rogers was caught behind for 72 the next over after Watson's departure and Panesar bowled all-rounder Steven Smith for six to prompt an early tea-break.