Ben Stokes has claimed that England bowled better than the scorebook suggested on the opening day of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval.
Important contributions from David Warner (85) and Chris Rogers (43) were followed by an unbeaten century partnership between Steve Smith (78*) and Adam Voges (47*) as Australia reached 287-3 after being asked to bat first by Alastair Cook.
Despite struggling to put the tourists under the same pressure they had done on the way to wrapping up the series with a game to spare, Stokes believes that England were unfortunate not to be in a better position at the close of play.
"We've only got them three down but on another day we could have bowled worse and had them five or six down," the all-rounder told BBC Sport. "Australia played better than at Trent Bridge but there were a lot of positive things from us.
"The eye is still on the prize for 4-1, we bowled fantastic with the new ball so hopefully we can take three or four with the second one."
The second new ball will be available to England after just two balls on Friday.
Callum Mulvihill
