Openers seal crushing ten-wicket win

Australia 328 (Smith 141*, Marsh 51) and 0 for 173 (Warner 87*, Bancroft 82*) beat England 302 (Vince 83) and 195 (Root 51) by 10 wickets

Brisbane: Australia cruised to a crushing 10-wicket win over England to go one-up in the Ashes series in the opening Test at the Gabba on Monday, with captain Steve Smith praising his team's character.

Openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft added to England's agony by peeling off the required runs without the loss of a wicket before lunch on the final day.

Warner finished unbeaten on 87 off 119 balls with newcomer Bancroft hitting the winning runs to remain 82 not out off 182 balls in Australia's 173 without loss.

In the process, they broke an 87-year-old Test record for the all-time highest unbeaten opening partnership in a successful Test chase.

The Australians only needed 56 runs on the final morning go one up after England imploded on Sunday's fourth day.

England captain Joe Root said the result did not tell the full story.

An England and Wales Cricket Board statement confirmed team management have asked Bairstow about the alleged incident.

Warner said it was great to get the win without losing a wicket.

England's doleful defeat was played to the background sounds of the travelling Barmy Army supporters singing 'We'll Take the (Ashes) Urn Home' in the sparsely-populated Gabba ground.

It was an attritional battle between the traditional rivals over the first three days of the Test, raising England's hopes of a first win at the ground in just over three decades.

But skipper Smith's match-defining unbeaten 141 over eight-and-a-half hours to give Australia a 26-run innings lead and Josh Hazlewood's two late wickets on Saturday swung the momentum firmly Australia's way.

England were knocked over for 195 off 71.4 overs, losing their last six wickets for 82, to set Australia an unthreatening target to chase down in the remaining four sessions of play.

Australia stretched their unbeaten record at their Gabba fortress to 29 years since their last defeat to Viv Richards' West Indies team in 1988.

England have not won in Brisbane in 31 years, a stretch of eight Ashes Tests.

The five-Test series heads to Adelaide Oval for the first-ever Ashes day-night Test, starting on Saturday.