Australia beat England by six wickets with 19 balls to spare on
an extraordinary final day to win the second test and take a 2-0
lead in the Ashes series yesterday.
Australia needed 168 for victory off 36 overs after England's
batting inexplicably crumbled, the touring side losing their last
nine wickets for 60 runs to be all out for just 129.
Australia lost Justin Langer (7), Matthew Hayden (18),
man-of-the-match Ricky Ponting (49) and Damien Martyn (5) during a
frantic run-chase before Mike Hussey (61 not out) and Michael
Clarke (21 not out) steered them to victory in the nick of
time.
England had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in cricket
history to win the Ashes at home last year but would appear to need
a miracle to retain the tiny urn with three tests to go.
"There's a long way to go but we've made a good start," captain
Ponting told Australian television.
"We were forced to work hard after the first couple of days of
this game. To be able to turn this game around and get into a
winning position today has been an amazing effort."
England captain Andrew Flintoff said his team had paid a heavy
price for a poor session.
"We've played a lot of good cricket in this test match apart
from an hour today when we let it slip, and it just shows it can
cost you," he said.
"You have a bad hour and you are out of the test match. That's
exactly what's happened today."
The match had seemed destined to end in a draw after both teams
piled on more than 500 runs in their first innings on a lifeless
pitch until England suddenly wobbled on the final day.
England's first-innings total of 551 for six declared was the
fourth highest score made by a losing team since test cricket
started in 1877.
Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was the architect of
England's second-innings collapse, capturing four for 49 off 32
overs. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee took two wickets each.
"This is a sensational win for us from a great team," Warne
said. "To go 2-0 up was a great effort by all the guys. They all
did their bit when they needed to."
The tourists resumed on 59 for one but allowed the Australians
to go straight on the attack when they signalled their intention to
defend.
Warne started to turn the ball sharply out of the footmarks and
the seamers created doubts in the batsmen's minds by skidding the
ball through at varying heights, but the demons in the pitch only
played a minor role in England's collapse.
Andrew Strauss was unlucky to be given out for 34 to a catch by
Hussey at short leg after the ball appeared to miss his bat and
gloves, but Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Flintoff and Geraint Jones
all contributed to their own downfall.
(China Daily December 6, 2006)