England (425 & 311-6dec) beat Australia (215 & 406) by 115 runs at Lord's.
A monumental bowling performance from Andrew Flintoff has sealed the second Test for England and ended their 75-year-drought in Ashes Tests at Lord's.
Yesterday's 185-run partnership between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin had raised Australia's hopes that their winning target of 522 might be within reach.
But when Flintoff had Haddin caught at second slip with his third ball of the day, the odds shifted dramatically towards England.
Clarke held out for almost another hour, but found it hard to score. He had added only 11 runs to his overnight 125 when he came down the wicket to the second ball he faced from Graeme Swann and was bowled.
Now Flintoff took the lead in cleaning up the tail. Nipping the ball down the slope, he hit Nathan Hauritz's stumps in the next over, reducing Australia to 363 for eight.
Peter Siddle followed in similar style, beaten by a reverse-swinging ball that rushed between bat and pad.
And although Mitchell Johnson had played some marvellous strokes, scoring 63 off just 75 balls, he was the last man out when he too came down the wicket to Swann, yorking himself and losing his middle stump.
It was a remarkable effort from England, and from Flintoff in particular, who bowled 10 overs off the reel this morning despite carrying a bad knee.
His figures for the day were 10-1-43-3, giving him five for 92 overall, and completing only his third five-wicket haul in 76 Test matches.
After bowling Siddle, Flintoff saluted the crowd all around the ground, for they know this will be his last Test match at Lord's. He certainly went out in style.
No comments:
Post a Comment