The ASHES 2006/2007Paul Collingwood became the first Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia in 70 years as England struck late on the second day to take control of the second Ashes Test yesterday.
Collingwood amassed 206 and with Kevin Pietersen (158) shared in resurgent England's highest fourth-wicket partnership in Ashes Tests of 310 to place the tourists in an impregnable position with three days left.
Andrew Flintoff declared England's marathon 11-hour 47-minute innings closed at 551 for six with nine overs left and cashed in with the wicket of Justin Langer for four to have the Australians on the back-foot.
PHOTO: AFP
Langer was caught by Pietersen in the gully after Flintoff elected to bowl with the new-ball in the second over instead of Steve Harmison.
At stumps, Australia were 28 for one with Matthew Hayden not out 12 and Ricky Ponting on 11.
Pietersen earlier underlined his value to the ageing Australian attack with his second dominating century in the last three Ashes Tests.
England's innings kept the weary Australians in the field for close to two days in the search for enough runs to give their bowlers the chance of taking 20 wickets and leveling the series after the 277-run loss in Brisbane.
Collingwood's 516-minute epic put him alongside Reg Foster and Wally Hammond as the only Englishmen to have scored a double century in Australia.
The Durham right-hander, who wasn't sure of his place in the team until Marcus Trescothick returned home with depression, was out in the final over before tea, caught behind attempting to drive Stuart Clark.
Collingwood's restrained double-century off 392 balls was the first by an England batsman in Australia since Hammond's 231 in Sydney in 1936.
The records kept tumbling with Collingwood-Pietersen's 354-minute stand bettering the 288 by Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe at Edgbaston in 1997 as the highest England fourth-wicket partnership in Ashes cricket.
It was Collingwood's third Test century and first against Australia and followed the heartbreak of getting dismissed for 96 in the second innings of the first Brisbane Test.
He scored 134 not out against India in the first Test at Nagpur last March and 186 against Pakistan at Lord's in July.
Pietersen equaled his 158 in the drawn-out fifth Ashes Test at The Oval last year before he was run out by Ponting at short mid-wicket going for a quick single.
The Hampshire dominator clouted a six off Shane Warne, clubbed Glenn McGrath for three fours in one over and raised his hundred with a scampering single off Clark before lunch.
He ran down the field holding his bat and helmet aloft in jubilation before a warm embrace from Collingwood on attaining his sixth century in his 20th Test.
Flintoff (38 not out) and Ashley Giles (27 not out) put on 60 runs before the skipper made the declaration immediately after passing 550.
It was a demoralizing day for Australia's two great bowlers, Warne and McGrath, first and third all-time leading Test wicket-takers.
Warne was heading for his worst Test drubbing before he claimed his only wicket of the innings after conceding 145 runs. He finished the day with 1-167 off a total of 53 overs.
It was Warne's worst Test return in an Ashes Test against England and was close to his all-time low of 0-147 against India in Calcutta in 1998.
An exasperated Warne even resorted to bowling outside leg-stump in an attempt to entice Pietersen to get himself out to a rash shot, to no avail.
McGrath, heaved for six by Flintoff over square leg late in the day, claimed the unwanted milestone of going for 100 runs for the first time in 121 Tests with 0-107 off 30 overs.
First-change Clark was by far the best-performed bowler with 3-75 off 34 overs.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS