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Ashes: England lead by 124 runs
After bowling out Australia in the first innings for 308, England went in to bat on the second day of the second Ashes Test in Birmingham on Friday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:54 AM IST
Read Time:3 min
Birmingham:
After bowling out Australia in the first innings for 308, England went in to bat on the second day of the second Ashes Test in Birmingham on Friday. Earlier, Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles took three wickets apiece Friday as England dismissed Australia for 308 and gained a 99-run first-innings lead in the second cricket test. Flintoff removed Simon Katich in the middle session and returned to trap Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz lbw on consecutive balls to finish off the Australian tail late on day two. Marcus Trescothick, who cover drove Brett Lee for four on the first ball of the second innings, was unbeaten on 19 and night watchman Matthew Hoggard faced the last four balls without scoring. Trescothick, whose opening score of 90 set the tone for England's first innings total of 407, hit four boundaries and faced 26 balls. Warne strikes Australian legspinner Shane Warne claimed a wicket in the last over - and must have alarmed the England batsmen. He bowled Andrew Strauss (6) with his second ball, which pitched well outside off stump and spun sharply behind Strauss' legs. England offspinner Giles also had success, albeit without the dramatic turn that Warne possesses. He answered critics who had called for his axing after England's series-opening loss at Lord's with a haul of 3-78 from 26 overs, taking the key wickets of Ricky Ponting (61) and Michael Clarke (40) before bowling Warne. In between, Simon Jones ended Justin Langer's stubborn resistance at 82 and had Lee caught at second slip in a 17-ball sequence that netted 2-10. His final figures were 2-69. Flintoff returned 3-52. The Australians scored their runs at 4.1 an over, comparatively sedate against the English rate of 5.14 on Thursday, when the batsmen plundered 10 sixes and 54 boundaries and amassed England's biggest first day total since World War II. Langer leads Langer endured blows to the helmet and ribs from Steve Harmison short balls in the first and fifth overs Friday. He faced 154 balls in more than 4 1/2 hours before he went out. The last three wickets fell for 26 runs, leaving Adam Gilchrist stranded on 49 not out. The Australians were lucky not to be two wickets down without a run on the board in the second over. Matthew Hayden was out to Matthew Hoggard for a first-ball duck, driving to Strauss at short extra cover, and Ponting survived a near run out when attempting a single. The Australian captain recovered and looked in good touch, stroking 12 boundaries before he was out trying to sweep Giles, caught by Michael Vaughan, who then ran out Damien Martyn (20) to finish the morning session. Langer and Clarke added 76 runs in 85 minutes after lunch as Australia moved steadily from 118 for three to 194 before England regained the momentum with two wickets. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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