England's Joe Root finally shattered his long-standing Australian curse with an unbeaten 138 at the Gabba, his first Test century Down Under after 12 years of trying, though it could not prevent England from slipping to a 2-0 deficit in the Ashes series.

Relief After Technical Adjustment

Root admitted to Sky Sports that scoring his maiden Test century in Australia was a "relief" after enduring single-digit scores of 0 and 8 in the opening Test at Perth. The 34-year-old attributed his Perth dismissals to being "too obsessed with the bounce" while trying to play square of the wicket.

At Brisbane, Root made a critical technical adjustment. "In Brisbane, I tried to take modes of dismissal out of the game where I could, played as straight as possible and understood that sometimes less is more in those conditions," he told Sky Sports. The strategy proved effective as he guided England to 334 in their first innings during the pink-ball Test, despite Mitchell Starc's six-wicket haul.

Root's 138 not out came from 206 deliveries and helped him surpass 1,000 Test runs in Australia. He became only the second England player, after Maurice Leyland, to score a century on the opening day of a Gabba Test and moved within one century of Ricky Ponting's tally of 41 Test hundreds.

Series Context

Despite Root's heroics, Australia won the Brisbane Test by eight wickets to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The hosts had already secured an emphatic eight-wicket victory in Perth, where the match concluded in just two days. England now face a must-win situation in the third Test starting December 17 in Adelaide.

Root's century provided England's brightest moment in what has been a difficult series, as the visitors look to avoid their 15th loss in 17 Tests in Australia since 2011.