WATCH: Nathan Lyon direct hit denies James Vince a deserving maiden Ashes ton

Vince played a brilliant knock, and with fellow rookie Stoneman, stitched a 125-run second-wicket stand as the visitors defied the hosts in front of vociferous Day 1 crowd.

Courtesy: Twitter

New Delhi: England lost veteran opener Alastair Cook in the third over of the 2017-18 Ashes series opener at Gabba, Brisbane on Thursday, thus exposing a relatively inexperienced batting line-up to Aussie hostilities.

But 26-year-old James Vince played a brilliant knock, and with fellow rookie Mark Stoneman, stitched a 125-run second-wicket stand as the visitors defied the hosts in front of vociferous Day 1 crowd.

The right-handed batsman, however, missed out on his maiden Test hundred, thanks to a brilliant piece of ground fielding from Nathan Lyon.

Batting at 83, and having already hit 12 fours, Vince punched the third ball of the 60th over, bowled by Josh Hazlewood, into the off-side. Lyon, fielding at cover, ran to his right and picked the ball one-handed. The Aussie fielder then hit the stumps at the non-striker's end. It caught Vince well short of the crease.

Watch the run out here:

Huge moment! Simply outstanding from Nathan Lyon in the field: https://t.co/P6sH6ROa7L #Ashes pic.twitter.com/3hKwvzYS0v

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 23, 2017

It was Vince's highest Test score in eight Test matches. He made Test debut in May 2016 against Sri Lanka at Leeds.

Earlier in the day, England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first. But, they soon lost Cook, thanks to a Mitchell Starc beauty.

At Stumps on Day 1, England were 196/4 after 80.3 overs' play. Stoneman (53), Root (15) were other batsmen to get out today.

Dawid Malan (28) and Moeen Ali (13) were at the crease when the bails were drawn.