Australia batsman Chris Rogers believes the morning session of day two at the Adelaide Oval will be crucial to the second Ashes Test.
The hosts will start tomorrow on 273 for five, with Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin at the crease, after a topsy-turvy opening day.
England are targeting a couple of quick wickets to take control, but the 36-year-old Rogers wants to see the experienced Aussie duo kick on and put their side in charge.
“It’s always hard to tell on the end of day one but it felt more like a day-three wicket really, so runs on the board are going to be crucial,” he said at the end-of-day press conference.
“If we can keep going and get 400 then it’s going to be hard work for England.
“We probably expected at one stage for 500 plus, but (the wicket) started to play tricks and spin towards the end of the day.”
Rogers returned to form after struggling in the opening Test by scoring 72, one of three Australian fifties, with Clarke two away from recording another.
But with Rogers the only one to have pushed on into the 60s, he knows there were missed opportunities to stamp their authority on proceedings.
“If you get in on this wicket you’ve got to make it count and that’s probably the big disappointment for today as there were a lot of starts,” he said. “But saying that, a lot of us have contributed and if we can keep going and get 400 it’s going to be a very competitive score.”
The Middlesex batsman was relieved to have contributed following his first-Test struggles, as he knows his age counts against him when it comes to a loss of form.
“At my age, two bad games (in a row) is dangerous so it was important to get some runs on a pretty good wicket today,” he admitted.
But a second Test hundred proved beyond him when he fell to Graeme Swann, edging a back-foot drive behind - where Matt Prior took a simple catch.
Rogers took his hat off to a superb delivery from a “class bowler”.
“That ball pretty much spun from out of nowhere so it would probably have gotten me out quite a few times if I faced it again,” he said.
“He’s a class bowler, particularly against left-handers. Hopefully there’s a few more battles to come.”