Super bowling effort puts England in control
James Anderson was on fire today
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Friday, 17, Jul 2009 09:58
England are in a dominant position in the second Ashes Test match after a superb bowling performance left Australia on 156/8.
James Anderson was the star of the show as first his blistering 29 with the bat guided England to 425 all out in the first innings. The Lancashire star than bowled brilliantly to take 4/36 as he swung the ball both ways.
Anderson took the wickets of opener Phil Hughes (4) and a controversial dismissal of Ricky Ponting (2) before the lunch break, which left Australia two down with only 18 runs on the board at lunch.
Hughes was the first to go when he was caught behind off the glove by wicketkeeper Matt Prior with only four runs on the board in the third over.
And Ponting was given out caught by Andrew Strauss at slip, despite question marks over the decision.
The Australian captain was probably out lbw, even though replays showed there was no contact between bat and ball, but he was visibly upset as he left the field with his side struggling on 10-2.
It was left to Simon Katich and the out-of-form Michael Hussey to try and resurrect the Australian innings.
Having built a 93-run partnership for the third wicket, Katich (48) was dismissed when Graham Onions claimed his first ever Ashes victim when Stuart Broad pouched a good catch.
Then the wickets of Hussey (51, bowled by Andrew Flintoff) and Michael Clarke (1, caught by Alastair Cook off Anderson) saw Australia collapse from 103-2 to 111-5 to put England in the driving seat.
England than took complete control of the match with three late wickets. First Anderson bowled Marcus North for a duck and Broad claimed the wickets of Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin.
Earlier, the home side's innings was rescued by a wagging tail for the second Ashes Test match in a row when a last-wicket partnership of 47 between Anderson (29) and Onions (17 not out) edged the total past the 400 mark.
It had looked as if the dismissal of Strauss, who was unable to add to his overnight 161, from just the second ball of the day would see the hosts skittled for less than 400.
But Stuart Broad's 16 and excellent efforts from the number ten and 11 batsmen ensured a competitive total.