Mark Planamente
NormAustralia Notch Another Victory, as England Are ‘Warne’ Down
December 5th 2006 12:13
Ashes Series 2nd Test (Adelaide) Day 5 Report
What a difference a day can make. At stumps on day four, everyone was assuming that the Test will go into a draw, and both sides would face up in Perth to try and gain an advantage in the series. Now at the close of the match, Australia are up by 2 games, and England are now seriously on the back foot as they try to retain the Ashes.
At the close of the fourth day, England were in control of the match. Going at stumps for 1/59, and the big hitters Collingwood, Pietersen and Flintoff all waiting in the wings it seemed that they would be able to draw this charade to a close in their favour. However they weren’t expecting the second coming of Shane Warne.
After posting in the first innings the disappointing figures of 1/167, there was gossip that England had finally broken the code that left them at Warne’s disposal. However the Adelaide pitch, which had been at the centre of controversy over the past five days, still had a few tricks up its sleeve, and Warne used them to his full advantage.
To put it simply, England crumbled. As Australia attacked unrelentingly, and as a few decisions went against them in the first hours of the day, the Poms could not find a solution to stop the flow. Strauss and Bell fell quickly to the spin of Warne, and England just did not recover. Pietersen and Flintoff fell soon afterwards, both leaving the crease on the score of two, and the English batsmen who could have saved this match were left floating in the pavilion, as their four best batters all went within 10 overs of each other.
From their Australia had to simply clear up the remainder, and hope they could do it with enough time to reach an accessible target, both of which was performed with such ease. Bowling England out in only 73 overs, the Poms could only post an extra 129 runs, and give Australia the simple target of 168 in 36 overs.
From their Australia never looked back. In the first over both Hayden and Langer proved to the visitors that they were their to play for the victory, slamming 10 off the first over from Hoggard.
Despite their top three opening batsmen all exiting without notching up a significant milestone, their was no doubt that Australia were in the pilot’s seat during the final overs of the day. In the end it was ‘Mr. Cricket’ Hussey and first innings hero Clarke who steeled their side to victory, all within three overs of close.
It was a match of records. Not only did Ponting make official that he is the most prolific centurion batsman Australia has seen, but it was also the biggest score a side declared at in the first innings and lost.
Whilst England commented after Brisbane that they had to simply move onto this match, and not have time to go over their mistakes, there is plenty of time now. With over a week until the third Test in Perth gets underway, England will have to look deep at how they let this match slip out of their hands, and as Australia goes 2-0 up in the best of five series, how they might have let slip the Ashes to dominant Australians.
Until next time, sports minds.
Ashes – Second Test (Adelaide) Scorecard
England First Innings (6/551 dec)
Batter (Out) Runs, Balls, Strike Rate
AJ Strauss (c Martyn, b Clark) 14, 44, 31.81
AN Cook (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 27, 57, 47.36
IR Bell (c & b Lee) 60, 148, 40.54
PD Collingwood (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 206, 392, 52.55
KP Pietersen (run out (Ponting)) 158, 257, 61.47
A Flintoff (not out) 38, 67, 56.71
GO Jones (c Martyn, b Warne) 1, 7, 14.28
AF Giles (not out) 27, 44, 61.36
Bowling
Bowler, Overs, Maidens, Runs, Wickets, Econ (Extras)
B Lee…34, 1, 139, 1, 4.08 (8nb, 1w)
GD McGrath…30, 5, 107, 0, 3.56
SR Clark…34, 6, 75, 3, 2.20
SK Warne…53, 9, 167, 1, 3.15 (1w)
MJ Clarke…17, 2, 53, 0, 3.11
Australia First Innings (513 all out)
JL Langer (c Pietersen, b Flintoff) 4, 8, 50.00
ML Hayden (c Jones, b Hoggard) 12, 30, 40.00
RT Ponting (c Jones, b Hoggard) 142, 245, 57.95
DR Martyn (c Bell, b Hoggard) 11, 33, 33.33
MEK Hussey (b Hoggard) 91, 212, 42.92
MJ Clarke (c Giles, b Hoggard) 124, 224, 55.35
AC Gilchrist (c Bell, b Giles) 64, 79, 81.01
SK Warne (lbw b Hoggard) 43, 108, 39.81
B Lee (not out) 7, 33, 21.21
SR Clark (b Hoggard) 0, 7, 0.00
GD McGrath (c Jones, b Anderson) 1, 21, 4.76
Bowling
MJ Hoggard…42, 6, 109, 7, 2.59
A Flintoff…26, 5, 82, 1, 3.15 (5 nb)
SJ Harmison…25, 5, 96, 0, 3.84 (2nb, 1w)
JM Anderson…21.3, 3, 85, 1, 3.95
AF Giles…42, 7, 103, 1, 2.45
KP Pietersen…9, 0, 32, 0, 3.55
England Second Innings (129 all out)
AJ Strauss (c Hussey, b Warne) 34, 79, 43.03
AN Cook (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 9, 35, 25.71
IR Bell (run out (Clarke/Warne) 26, 73, 35.61
PD Collingwood (not out) 22, 119, 18.48
KP Pietersen (b Warne) 2, 5, 40.00
A Flintoff (c Gilchrist, b Lee) 2, 24, 8.33
GO Jones (c Hayden, b Lee) 10, 24, 41.66
AF Giles (c Hayden, b Warne) 0, 8, 0.00
MJ Hoggard (b Warne) 4, 24, 16.66
SJ Harmison (lbw b McGrath) 8, 21, 38.09
JM Anderson (lbw b McGrath) 1, 28, 3.57
Bowling
B Lee…18, 3, 35, 2, 1.94 (2nb)
GD McGrath…10, 6, 15, 2, 1.50 (1w)
SK Warne…32, 12, 49, 4, 1.53
SR Clark…13, 4, 22, 1, 1.69
Australia Second Innings (Target: 168 runs)
JL Langer (c Bell b Hoggard) 7, 8, 87.50
ML Hayden (c Collingwood, b Flintoff) 18, 17, 105.88
RT Ponting (c Strauss, b Giles) 49, 65, 75.38
MEK Hussey (not out) 61, 66, 92.42
DR Martyn (c Strauss, b Flintoff) 5, 4, 125.00
MJ Clarke (not out) 21, 39, 53.84
Bowling
MJ Hoggard…4, 0, 29, 1, 7.25
A Flintoff…9, 0, 44, 2, 4.88 (2nb)
AF Giles…10, 0, 46, 1, 4.60
SJ Harmison…4, 0, 15, 0, 3.75 (1w)
JM Anderson…3.5, 0, 23, 0, 6.00
KP Pietersen…2, 0, 7, 0, 3.50
Australia Win by six wickets, Man of the Match – RT Ponting
What a difference a day can make. At stumps on day four, everyone was assuming that the Test will go into a draw, and both sides would face up in Perth to try and gain an advantage in the series. Now at the close of the match, Australia are up by 2 games, and England are now seriously on the back foot as they try to retain the Ashes.
At the close of the fourth day, England were in control of the match. Going at stumps for 1/59, and the big hitters Collingwood, Pietersen and Flintoff all waiting in the wings it seemed that they would be able to draw this charade to a close in their favour. However they weren’t expecting the second coming of Shane Warne.
After posting in the first innings the disappointing figures of 1/167, there was gossip that England had finally broken the code that left them at Warne’s disposal. However the Adelaide pitch, which had been at the centre of controversy over the past five days, still had a few tricks up its sleeve, and Warne used them to his full advantage.
To put it simply, England crumbled. As Australia attacked unrelentingly, and as a few decisions went against them in the first hours of the day, the Poms could not find a solution to stop the flow. Strauss and Bell fell quickly to the spin of Warne, and England just did not recover. Pietersen and Flintoff fell soon afterwards, both leaving the crease on the score of two, and the English batsmen who could have saved this match were left floating in the pavilion, as their four best batters all went within 10 overs of each other.
From their Australia had to simply clear up the remainder, and hope they could do it with enough time to reach an accessible target, both of which was performed with such ease. Bowling England out in only 73 overs, the Poms could only post an extra 129 runs, and give Australia the simple target of 168 in 36 overs.
From their Australia never looked back. In the first over both Hayden and Langer proved to the visitors that they were their to play for the victory, slamming 10 off the first over from Hoggard.
Despite their top three opening batsmen all exiting without notching up a significant milestone, their was no doubt that Australia were in the pilot’s seat during the final overs of the day. In the end it was ‘Mr. Cricket’ Hussey and first innings hero Clarke who steeled their side to victory, all within three overs of close.
It was a match of records. Not only did Ponting make official that he is the most prolific centurion batsman Australia has seen, but it was also the biggest score a side declared at in the first innings and lost.
Whilst England commented after Brisbane that they had to simply move onto this match, and not have time to go over their mistakes, there is plenty of time now. With over a week until the third Test in Perth gets underway, England will have to look deep at how they let this match slip out of their hands, and as Australia goes 2-0 up in the best of five series, how they might have let slip the Ashes to dominant Australians.
Until next time, sports minds.
Ashes – Second Test (Adelaide) Scorecard
England First Innings (6/551 dec)
Batter (Out) Runs, Balls, Strike Rate
AJ Strauss (c Martyn, b Clark) 14, 44, 31.81
AN Cook (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 27, 57, 47.36
IR Bell (c & b Lee) 60, 148, 40.54
PD Collingwood (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 206, 392, 52.55
KP Pietersen (run out (Ponting)) 158, 257, 61.47
A Flintoff (not out) 38, 67, 56.71
GO Jones (c Martyn, b Warne) 1, 7, 14.28
AF Giles (not out) 27, 44, 61.36
Bowling
Bowler, Overs, Maidens, Runs, Wickets, Econ (Extras)
B Lee…34, 1, 139, 1, 4.08 (8nb, 1w)
GD McGrath…30, 5, 107, 0, 3.56
SR Clark…34, 6, 75, 3, 2.20
SK Warne…53, 9, 167, 1, 3.15 (1w)
MJ Clarke…17, 2, 53, 0, 3.11
Australia First Innings (513 all out)
JL Langer (c Pietersen, b Flintoff) 4, 8, 50.00
ML Hayden (c Jones, b Hoggard) 12, 30, 40.00
RT Ponting (c Jones, b Hoggard) 142, 245, 57.95
DR Martyn (c Bell, b Hoggard) 11, 33, 33.33
MEK Hussey (b Hoggard) 91, 212, 42.92
MJ Clarke (c Giles, b Hoggard) 124, 224, 55.35
AC Gilchrist (c Bell, b Giles) 64, 79, 81.01
SK Warne (lbw b Hoggard) 43, 108, 39.81
B Lee (not out) 7, 33, 21.21
SR Clark (b Hoggard) 0, 7, 0.00
GD McGrath (c Jones, b Anderson) 1, 21, 4.76
Bowling
MJ Hoggard…42, 6, 109, 7, 2.59
A Flintoff…26, 5, 82, 1, 3.15 (5 nb)
SJ Harmison…25, 5, 96, 0, 3.84 (2nb, 1w)
JM Anderson…21.3, 3, 85, 1, 3.95
AF Giles…42, 7, 103, 1, 2.45
KP Pietersen…9, 0, 32, 0, 3.55
England Second Innings (129 all out)
AJ Strauss (c Hussey, b Warne) 34, 79, 43.03
AN Cook (c Gilchrist, b Clark) 9, 35, 25.71
IR Bell (run out (Clarke/Warne) 26, 73, 35.61
PD Collingwood (not out) 22, 119, 18.48
KP Pietersen (b Warne) 2, 5, 40.00
A Flintoff (c Gilchrist, b Lee) 2, 24, 8.33
GO Jones (c Hayden, b Lee) 10, 24, 41.66
AF Giles (c Hayden, b Warne) 0, 8, 0.00
MJ Hoggard (b Warne) 4, 24, 16.66
SJ Harmison (lbw b McGrath) 8, 21, 38.09
JM Anderson (lbw b McGrath) 1, 28, 3.57
Bowling
B Lee…18, 3, 35, 2, 1.94 (2nb)
GD McGrath…10, 6, 15, 2, 1.50 (1w)
SK Warne…32, 12, 49, 4, 1.53
SR Clark…13, 4, 22, 1, 1.69
Australia Second Innings (Target: 168 runs)
JL Langer (c Bell b Hoggard) 7, 8, 87.50
ML Hayden (c Collingwood, b Flintoff) 18, 17, 105.88
RT Ponting (c Strauss, b Giles) 49, 65, 75.38
MEK Hussey (not out) 61, 66, 92.42
DR Martyn (c Strauss, b Flintoff) 5, 4, 125.00
MJ Clarke (not out) 21, 39, 53.84
Bowling
MJ Hoggard…4, 0, 29, 1, 7.25
A Flintoff…9, 0, 44, 2, 4.88 (2nb)
AF Giles…10, 0, 46, 1, 4.60
SJ Harmison…4, 0, 15, 0, 3.75 (1w)
JM Anderson…3.5, 0, 23, 0, 6.00
KP Pietersen…2, 0, 7, 0, 3.50
Australia Win by six wickets, Man of the Match – RT Ponting
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