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Matthew Hayden, the former Australian cricketer, extended his congratulations to Joe Root after the English batsman scored his first Test century on Australian soil during the opening day of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane. Prior to this highly anticipated series, Hayden had made a humorous promise that he would walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the nude if Root did not achieve a century. Thankfully for Hayden, Root delivered with a remarkable century on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test at the Gabba. "Congratulations mate on a hundred here in Australia. It took you a while, and no one had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was rooting for you to score a hundred in a good way. So congratulations, ten fifties and finally a hundred. You little ripper mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it," Hayden expressed in a video shared by England Cricket on X.

Joe Root reached his first century in Australia, accomplishing this feat in 181 balls. This marked Root's 40th century in Test cricket. The former England captain took 30 innings to achieve his maiden hundred in Australia. He became the second English player, following Maurice Leyland, to score a century on the first day of a Gabba Test, and he is now the eighth player to hit a Test century for England at this venue.

At the end of Day 1, England stood at 325/9 after 74 overs. Joe Root scored 135 runs off 202 balls, hitting 15 fours and one six, while Jofra Archer contributed 32 runs off 26 balls, including one four and two sixes. For Australia, Mitchell Starc achieved his second five-wicket haul of the ongoing Ashes series, marking his 18th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Brief Scores: England 196/4 (Zak Crawley 76, Joe Root 68*) vs Australia.