Australia win by six wickets with an efficient performance in a low-key atmosphere. The opening stand between David Warner and Travis Head broke the back of the chase and Steven Smith looked at ease throughout. The chase never looked in doubt. England were off the pace throughout, expect for the magnificent hundred from David Malan. They did well to get up to 287 after being 66 for 4, but the bowling attack lacked bite. But Olly Stone's performance was encouraging.

Moiz: "This is the ideal start for Australia post Finch era. Cummins has all the ability to lead this team and Head is the perfect replacement for Finch. Also they have likes of McDermott and Philippe in domestic circuit."

Alex: "I do think it's worth pointing out that this is England A vs Australia's first XI... not really worth reading into this result too much! Good to see Olly Stone in particular get a run out, here's hoping he can stay fit and build on a promising start. Should be a useful series for England to try a few others out too." - Will be interesting to see if Woakes, Curran, Rashid and Moeen are all back in Sydney on Saturday

Dawid Malan is player of the match: "It's usually really good wickets, grounds like this are small square which is handy. Tough to miss those two games with all the work you put in over three years. It was gutting. Then to come back here and score a hundred was extremely satisfying. It did a bit early on with the new ball and they bowled very well. We were probably 30-40 runs short. Think 50-over cricket is my strongest format but it's a tough team to get into."

Pat Cummins "Fantastic performance, a team performance. We came in here really fresh and keen to get back into it. Ash Agar into the team, Travis Head, they stood up. Everyone cracked on, it was great. Really pleasing to see classic Smithy, fluent from ball was awesome. It came out alright today, in that last month or so each time I play I'm getting better."

Jos Buttler "Not fussed about the result at all, it's all about the character we showed. Wanted to play with intent. Dawid Malan a fantastic innings. To get to that score from the position we were in was brilliant. In the field we took risks and everyone responded. I'm sure we'll make a few changes throughout the series...keep deepening that talent pool."

Right, on that note, I'll wrap things up for today. We'll be back on Saturday for the second match. Can England keep the series alive? For now, from Gnasher, Alex and Thilak it's goodbye and thanks for joining us.

Big over here for Malan...

Afeef: "A hat-trick for Malan to turn the game, please"