Australia where dismissed for the healthy target of 326 shortly before stumps on day one courtesy of a timely century from Steve Smith.
The Aussies found themselves in the precarious position of 5-94 at one stage, but were saved from an embarrassing collapse thanks to batting of Smith and keeper Brad Haddin.
Haddin scored a furious 75 from 90 deliveries, including 13 boundaries while Smith collected his second ton of the Ashes series when he reached the 100 mark by smashing a boundary off a ball from English debutant Scott Borthwick.
The pair added a partnership of 129 before Smith put on another half-century with Ryan Harris to help the Aussies move past 300.
Mitchell Johnson made the most of his short stint with ball, reaching speeds of 150km/h early on and dismissing Michael Carberry for a duck when the opener pulled a ball of his hip to Nathan Lyon leg slip. Alastair Cook and Jimmy Anderson saw out the day to finish 1-8.
Australia’s top order collapse could prove more costly to some than others. Chris Rogers (11), David Warner (16) and Michael Clarke (10) all fell cheaply, but it was Bailey who likely face the most scrutiny.
The SCG pitch wasn’t as friendly to Bailey who experienced another lacklustre effort with the bat. He was dismissed for a single run, edging a delivery to Cook at slips and has produced just one double-figure first innings total this series- a 53 in the second Adelaide Test.
The 31-year-old’s position in the first XI is sure to come under greater scrutiny after yet another weak performance. He survived calls leading up to the fifth Test to be replaced by Tasmanian teammate James Faulkner.
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