Cook, who now has over 400 runs in the series after scoring 67 and an unbeaten 235 in the drawn Test at Brisbane, will resume Sunday on 136. Kevin Pietersen has 85 as the pair shared an unbroken partnership of 141.
After England captain Andrew Strauss was bowled by Doug Bollinger for 1 off the third ball of the morning, Cook and Jonathan Trott put on a 173-run second-wicket stand before the latter was dismissed for 78 while lofting a catch to Michael Clark at mid-wicket off Ryan Harris.
Cook, who has only been off the field for 11 overs in the series, survived a scare while on 64 when he was given out caught behind off Siddle, but the batsman immediately referred the decision to the third umpire and replays showed the ball hit his arm.
Cook credited batting coach Graham Gooch with helping him through the tough times last summer when he scored just 100 runs from seven innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“At tea I was quite tired, but as Goochie said you have to cash in when you're in this kind of form and don't give it away,” Cook said.
After his run of poor scores, Cook admitted to fearing for his England future, but and felt the hundred he got in the final Test of the English summer against Pakistan at the Oval gave him the confidence to face the challenges Down Under.
“It is always disappointing when you get criticized, but I deserved it when you only score 100 runs in seven knocks.
How I dealt with it by responding at the Oval gave me a lot of confidence and coming here when the side needed it most and I've been able to deliver so far,” he said. “That knock at the Oval has given me a lot of confidence when the going gets tough.” Trott's dismissal ended a sequence of 502 runs he and Cook shared without getting out after their unbeaten stand in the second innings of the draw at Brisbane took England to 517-1 declared. Cook suggested their similar temperaments help them to bat together.
“Trotty and I are probably similar players and we try to grind out the results,” Cook said. “We've got a good little record there as a partnership. We enjoy batting with each other and setting ourselves little targets every 20 minutes trying to get another five runs.” Soon after arriving at the crease, Pietersen punished some gentle bowling with an array of straight and on-drives for boundaries before slowing down as Australia tightened their line in the last hour.
“He said he had his pads on for 11 hours or so and the way he batted out there showed he really wants to make the most out of it,” Cook said. “He played really well in Brisbane without getting a big score and he looked really good today, and hopefully he can continue that tomorrow.” With temperatures soaring above 35 C (95 F) at the Adelaide Oval, Australia's pace attack toiled with little reward, encouragement from the pitch or adequate support in the field.
Shortly before his dismissal, Trott was dropped by Brad Haddin after he top-edged a pull from Harris, but more costly were the two chances spurned early in his innings.
A run out attempt when, in a similar scenario to the one that saw Trott run out Simon Katich in Australia's innings, Doherty missed the stumps by a full yard. Soon afterward, when on 10, the English batsman edged Bollinger to Hussey at point but the chance was dropped.
Unlike Graeme Swann for England, spinner Doherty could not tie down an end for Australia conceding close to five runs an over, although Pietersen came close to throwing his wicket away when he skied an attempted drive that landed just over the infield on the off-side.
Australia would have hoped for much more after the first over when Strauss expected Bollinger's delivery to bounce high, but instead caught the top of middle and off-stump.
Cook emphasized that a lot of work is still to be done if England are not to waste the opportunity created by their fine bowling performance to dismiss Australia 245 on the first day.
“We had to make the most of what our bowlers did yesterday, which was a fantastic effort on that wicket,” he said. .” We have to get through that first half hour and focus on getting a really big score.”
