ADELAIDE: England failed to forge the breakthroughs they needed after gambling on bowling first in the inaugural day-night Ashes test on Saturday with Australia 33 without loss at the end of a rain-disrupted opening session.

Tea was taken early after a second rain disruption and, when the weather permits, David Warner will resume for the second session on 21 not out with his opening partner Cameron Bancroft unbeaten on 10.

Joe Root's decision to put Australia in to bat after a resounding 10-wicket defeat in the series opener on Monday was always going to be controversial, going as it did against the captain's mantra of "always bat first".

England's pace attack would have to produce fireworks if the gamble was to pay off but they singularly failed to materialise under the lights of the packed Adelaide Oval.

Anticipating some lateral movement, the experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad found none and struggled with their lengths to rarely threaten the wickets of the Australian openers.

Bancroft got off the mark with a single to cover off the first ball of the match from Anderson, while a Warner square cut sent the ball racing to the boundary for the first four of the innings a couple of overs later.

A shower stopped play for 10 minutes with less than an hour on the clock and Warner welcomed Chris Woakes back by thumping a second boundary through the covers.

A heavier downpour forced the players off again 20 minutes later, wiping out the final third of the session.

England handed a debut to seamer Craig Overton in place of Jake Ball in an otherwise unchanged side, while Australia stuck with the same line-up as for the Brisbane test.

England hold the Ashes after their 3-2 series victory on home soil in 2015.