Centurion duo frustrate England
Ricky Ponting (left) and Simon Katich sealed their centuries in the final two overs of the day
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Thursday, 09, Jul 2009 09:54
Centuries for Australian batsmen Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich have guided Australia to 249-1 by the end of the second day's play in the first Test of the 2009 Ashes series.
Ponting (100 not out) came to the crease shortly after lunch when England's Andrew Fintoff enticed a thick inside edge off opener Phil Hughes to Matt Prior behind the stumps earlier in the day.
But after an excellent afternoon and evening from the influential captain, alongside a watchful Katich (104 not out), the pair added 189 runs to the total to close in on England's 435 all out from the first innings.
Earlier, a hostile spell after lunch from Flintoff gave the hosts their only bowling success of the day when he troubled young opener Hughes with a good mix of short deliveries and outswingers.
The all-rounder added spice to the attack for the home side, whose seamers - until that point - had largely failed to trouble the batsmen on a pitch offering little movement.
A hint of turn and bounce was in evidence throughout the day, giving some hope to spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar.
But the Australian batsmen rarely looked troubled at a subdued Swalec Stadium in Cardiff and eased to the close with both men claiming deserved hundreds before play ended just after 18:00 BST.