Second Test: England v Australia .284.E2.80.937 August.29 Test matches in England in 2005

1 second test: england v australia (4–7 august)

1.1 day one
1.2 day two
1.3 day three
1.4 day four

second test: england v australia (4–7 august)

day one

the psychological battles before match saw australia planting many stories in press england being in trouble. england kept quieter, until before game stories appeared how edgbaston game decided @ toss: whichever side won choose bowl first , win. england s mind games paid dividends when ricky ponting did that, michael vaughan admitted if had won toss, d have batted, , match progressed, became clearer , clearer pitch take plenty of turn near end.

england took advantage of being inserted , came strongly, considering 239-run drubbing had received @ lord s couple of weeks earlier. australian bowlers smashed corners on first day as, first time in 493-test history, australia conceded more 400 runs in first day of test cricket. english mentality seemed to attack outset, , helped freak injury glenn mcgrath sustained before match. during warm-up (playing rugby), pace-man accidentally stood on cricket ball, tearing ankle ligaments. australia had field michael kasprowicz replacement, , on pitch inaccurate bowling punished, mcgrath s line , length surely have been useful.

instead, marcus trescothick made innumerable smashes off brett lee cover boundary. andrew strauss preferred jason gillespie runs, , 112-run opening partnership highest england in ashes series far year – indeed, second highest of series far, beaten damien martyn , michael clarke s 155 @ lord s. continued on fine form lord s, had made 80 in second innings, , jitters one-day series seemed have vanished mcgrath. admittedly, trescothick caught off no-ball on 32, few remembered crafted way 90 – being second out shortly after lunch, score 164 2, after 32.3 overs.

england lost both ian bell, continued relatively poor ashes series third successive single-figure score, , michael vaughan, pulled short gillespie delivery hands of lee, in space of next 5 overs, still pounded on. kevin pietersen, in second test match, hit ten fours , 1 six, , forged 103-run partnership in 105 balls andrew flintoff, turned match england s favour. flintoff s 68 scored quickly, including 5 sixes, , again lee got stick – taken 26 in 18 balls faced.

lee did 1 wicket, though, , australia have been forgiven thinking important. pietersen pulled simon katich 71, off 76 balls, , score on 342 7, england have extraordinary out of tail past 400. did – steve harmison smacked 2 fours , 6 in entertaining, if brief, 17, , simon jones stuck around matthew hoggard vital last-wicket partnership of 32, jones making 19 not out. shane warne got better of hoggard, england had made 407, in under 80 overs. australian openers took field last half-hour of day. however, heavy rain prevented ball being bowled on first day.

day two

however, quick scoring , first test result led many people believe australia come vengeance on second day of matcht. instead, steve harmison bowled maiden on first justin langer, , matthew hayden holed out harmison s new-ball partner matthew hoggard golden duck – first of hayden s career. dismissal set tone of innings. although ricky ponting , justin langer hit runs england had done, umpire s finger went twice more before lunch – ricky ponting swept opposing captain vaughan 61, , damien martyn run out taking risky single 20. once again, vaughan in action, hitting stumps throw mid-off. langer , michael clarke continued after lunch in same vein, again, couple of quick wickets – clarke edging quicker ball ashley giles behind , simon katich falling in same way andrew flintoff swung england s way. @ 208 5, australians struggling, partnership between langer , gilchrist saw them tea no further loss.

the pair looked close england s lead, again england bowlers intervened – time in shape of invisible man in england s attack, simon jones, got plenty of reverse swing , used trap langer yorker – gone 82, australia s highest score in innings. australia s tail – thought strengthened absence of mcgrath, dismissed single-figure scores, andrew flintoff taking 2 last men lbw 2 last balls, although there argument first dismissal.

however, england got 99-run lead , continued hack away @ australian bowlers before stumps. after trescothick , strauss had smashed boundaries @ against seamers, ponting brought on warne in seventh over, , warne broke through second ball of match – leg break came left-hander s stumps , broke them completely, , strauss bowled 6. nightwatchman matthew hoggard survived 4 balls end day – england still leading 124, 9 wickets in hand.

day three

the third day exhilarating spectators first two; total of seventeen wickets fell shane warne , andrew flintoff took centre stage in enthralling contest. first up, however, brett lee, shattered england 3 quick wickets – trescothick slashed @ wide delivery, skipper vaughan disappointed yet again bat failed cover stumps straight one, , hoggard naturally had go – edging hayden in slips 1.

england shaken, score @ 31 4, , ian bell , kevin pietersen @ crease. pietersen consider himself lucky survive, after suggestion had been caught first ball. survived, , went on make 20, given out off similar situation shane warne. 41-run partnership bell steadied things somewhat, , there hopes among england fans bell make first significant score against tourists. instead, fell 2 overs after pietersen, having given tiniest of edges gilchrist 21.

so, score @ 75 6, england once again needed big partnership, time flintoff , wicket-keeper geraint jones. pair saw england lunch, flintoff had suffered shoulder injury , looked in obvious pain. in first on after lunch, jones gave edge ponting – 7 down 101. giles batted responsibly, padding warne, felt need play @ one, hayden held relative ease. harmison came , went, facing 1 delivery, , simon jones , andrew flintoff see england challenging target.

that did. jones kept head, managing 12 runs in 42-minute stay @ crease streaky fours, while flintoff smacked lee everywhere. flintoff took runs off kasprowicz, 1 on yielding 20 runs england, including couple of no balls. @ 1 point during flintoff s innings, ponting had 9 men on boundary, seen in cricket. 1 6 hit flintoff landed on top of stands. flintoff ended 73 – man pass 25 england – before being bowled warne. warne finished stunning figures of 6 46 23.1 overs, having bowled unchanged seventh on till end – but, luck , australia s batsmen have it, failure flintoff out earlier crucial.

matthew hayden , justin langer started positively, taking runs off occasional bad balls served harmison, hoggard , giles, , before noticed, had racked 47 no loss, , on way chasing target of 282. then, flintoff came in bowl first over. ball hurled down pitch, , swung enough deceive australian batsmen – flintoff got langer , ponting out in same over, , australia struggling again, score on 48 2.

a few overs of relative calm followed, hayden forging runs martyn never looking assured, , dismissal, came in on australia had looked on top. however, simon jones got last laugh on hayden – later reprimanded icc celebrations. england kept muscling on, , despite never playing on top of game got 4 more wickets before scheduled close of play. giles got 2 of those, dismissing katich , gilchrist, , inswinging ball flintoff took care of gillespie, trapped lbw.

an half-hour of play allowed, result nearing, warne , clarke defied english. warne lucky on more 1 occasion, playing streaky shots have got him out, did smash giles 12 in 1 over. not out overnight – however, steve harmison, bowling third spell of day, brought third day s proceedings end slow delivery not read correctly clarke, missed ball bowled. england needed 2 wickets on fourth day – australia, however, needed 107 runs victory.

day four

on fourth day, australia defied predictions 45-run partnership between warne , lee, before warne forced onto stumps flintoff dismissed hit wicket. kasprowicz came in , supported lee well, fending off aggressive bowling flintoff , harmison. pair had england on foot victory target neared closer , closer, edging virtually everything. 3 win, , 3 results possible, harmison had kasprowicz caught behind, replays showing ball hit batsman s hand when off bat. if hand had been on bat, have been correct decision – stood, incorrect give him out. however, mattered little viewers, recognised difficult job of umpire. england victors – if in narrow way possible – , series alive. (cricinfo scorecard)

rather engaging in victory celebrations, immediate reaction of flintoff winning dismissal console despondent batsmen—a gesture commented upon indicative of sportsmanship , mutual respect between teams characterised series.

england s 2 run victory narrowest result in ashes cricket history (there have been 2 tests won margin of 3 runs). second narrowest run victory in test cricket history. (other narrow victories given here)