Melbourne, Dec. 26 -- A brilliant one-wicket spell by Gus Atkinson consisting of four maidens out of nine mounted pressure on Australia, who lost three of their top-order batters to kickstart the Boxing Day Ashes Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) at a terrifying note on Friday.

At the end of session one, Australia was 72/4, with Usman Khawaja (21*) and Alex Carey (9*) unbeaten.

England won the toss and opted to bowl first, with Aussie openers Travis Head and Jake Weatherald coming out to bat.

The batting duo started off cautiously against Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. In the sixth over, Australia released some pressure, with Head getting two successive boundaries against Carse, one being an elegant cover drive, and Weatherland en...