England 435 & 252-9 drew with Australia 674-6 dec
Scorecard
ENGLAND snatched an unlikely draw in the Ashes opener despite being thoroughly outplayed by Australia at Sophia Gardens.
Ricky Ponting's men were completely dominant and deserved to take a 1-0 lead into the second Test at Lord's which begins on Thursday.
But, having got themselves in a good position at lunch, they were thwarted by a stand of 74 by Paul Collingwood and a match-saving partnership from James Anderson and Monty Panesar.
Had England lost this match, which seemed most likely throughout the final day, much of the blame would have been rightly reserved for the top order batsmen who failed in both innings on a placid pitch.
After the morning session on the opening day, England were on 99-3 before Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood enjoyed a stand of 138 for the fourth wicket.
But the English batsmen, and Pietersen in particular, were guilty of throwing their wickets away.
And despite adding 106 runs for the final three wickets at the start of day two, with Swann hitting an unbeaten 47, England were all out for 435.
Australia set about surpassing that first innings total with relish.
Once Ashes debutant Philip Hughes had departed for 36, Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting both hit centuries and saw out the rest of the day as the Aussies reached 249-1.
The morning of day three was the only session which England won with the ball as they managed to take three Aussie wickets.
Katich departed lbw on 122 to James Anderson who struck again to remove Mike Hussey for just three.
With Ponting finally out to Monty Panesar for 150, leaving Australia with two new batsmen shortly before lunch, England had a last chance to wrestle control of the match.
When tea arrived, it became clear England had not taken that chance as Michael Clarke and Marcus North started to build another long partnership.
Clarke hit 83 before getting out to a catch by Matt Prior off Stuart Broad but Brad Haddin took up the mantle to push Australia into a lead of 44 runs at close of day three.
Strauss continued to set uninspiring fields and England's bowlers continued to struggle on day four as North and Haddin recorded the third and fourth centuries of the Aussie innings.
Having made serene progress in the morning session, the Aussie batsmen stepped up the tempo in the afternoon despite cynical attempts by England to slow the over rate.
And so, with rain forecast, Australia declared once Haddin holed out to Ravi Bopara off Collingwood.
This left England seven overs to survive before the rain arrived after tea.
But they could not manage it. Alastair Cook was out lbw to Mitchell Johnson for six as he tried to play across a straight one.
Then, even luck deserted England as Bopara was the victim of a shocking decision by umpire Billy Doctrove to leave England 20-2 at close on day four.
Doctrove, who had turned down several good lbw shouts in the Australian innings, gave Bopara out on a ball which was comfortably missing the top of the stumps.
And the rain, on which the hosts were pinning most of their hopes, fell overnight giving the ground staff enough time to clear the outfield for the start of play.
This left the Aussies with what looked a relatively simple task of removing England's final eight wickets in the remaining 98 overs.
With the bit between their teeth, the bowlers started well, though they were assisted by some woeful shot selection by the English batsmen.
Pietersen offered no shot to a straight one from Ben Hilfenhaus and was out for eight.
Andrew Strauss followed soon afterwards, attempting to cut Nathan Hauritz's spin but only succeeding in giving a simple catch to Haddin.
And Prior repeated Strauss's error against Hauritz, with Clarke pouching the catch to leave England in dire straits at 70-5.
A stand between Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff took England to lunch without further damage.
But the match looked to have swung decisively in the Aussies favour once Flintoff was removed by an excellent low catch from Ponting off Johnson's bowling.
This did not factor in Collingwood's obduracy, however, or his impressive management of the tail as he first put on 32 with Broad before the Notts bowler was lbw to Hauritz.
Then he followed it up with an even more vital stand of 62 with Swann who was also out lbw, this time to Hilfenhaus.
When Collingwood played a loose shot to be caught by Hussey off Peter Siddle's bowling for 74, there were still more than 11 overs remaining and a late Aussie victory looked likely.
But Ponting oddly kept faith with the misfiring Johnson and the occasional off-spin of North, ignoring the form showed by Siddle and Hilfenhaus.
And roared on by the noisy Cardiff crowd, Anderson and Panesar remarkably held firm with a last-wicket partnership of 19 runs to take England into a narrow lead of 13 runs.
As 6.40pm passed and the minimum amount of overs for the day had been bowled, the umpires removed the bails to a joyous outpouring of relief on the balcony from England.
In the post-match interviews, Strauss admitted his team had been lucky while his counterpart Ponting grimaced as he accepted the man of the match award, aware that a huge chance for an early lead in the series had been narrowly missed.
But, even though they failed to secure victory, the psychology of the series in very much in the tourists' favour as they move on as favourites to Lord's where England have not won since 1934.
Widely considered before the series to be the worst touring Aussie side for 20 years, Ponting's men handed England a lesson on how to construct a Test innings on a flat surface.
Moreover, England's supposed advantage in spin bowling never materialised with Hauritz looking more threatening than Swann and Panesar put together.
Despite his uncharacteristic batting heroics, Panesar is likely to be dropped and replaced by Steve Harmison or, my preference, Graham Onions.
Broad is the most likely of the seamers to lose out after he failed to bowl economically or with any menace.
But, with no clear threat from the County Championship, and in the interests of consistency, the top order batsmen are all likely to be given another chance.
Indeed, the whole England team have given themselves another chance despite what could only be considered to be a woeful performance before the final session heroics.
Let's see if they can take it by upsetting the odds at Lord's.
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EARLIER CLOSE OF PLAY REPORTS
Day Four (close)
England 435 [Pietersen 69, Collingwood, 64, Prior 56] & 20-2 v
Australia 674-6 dec [Katich 122, Ponting 150, Clarke 83, North 120*, Haddin 121]
AUSTRALIA further strengthened their stranglehold on the First Test by utterly dominating England on day four at Sophia Gardens.
Marcus North and Brad Haddin enjoyed a sixth wicket stand of exactly 200 runs as the tourists set about extending their overnight lead of 44 in earnest.
England's seamers once again struggled to find any swing and spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar looked redundant as the batsmen cruised through the morning session with North recording his century in the penultimate over before lunch.
With rain forecast for the afternoon, North and Haddin were clearly instructed to step on the gas and reach a lead at which captain Ricky Ponting could declare.
Despite England's cynical attempts at slowing the over rate, Ponting allowed Haddin to become the fourth centurion of the Aussie innings an hour after lunch before he holed out to Ravi Bopara off Paul Collingwood on 121.
That brought a close to the Aussie innings on 674-6, a lead of 239 runs, with England needing to survive seven overs before tea.
England could not and found themselves a sorry sight at 20-2, still 219 behind. First Alastair Cook was out lbw to Mitchell Johnson on a ball that kept straight.
In the next over, luck deserted England as Bopara followed, the victim of a terrible lbw decision by umpire Doctrove who had in previous days turned down several plumb lbw calls.
Tea came and England skipper Andrew Strauss traipsed off with the man he had replaced, Kevin Pietersen. As the interval began, the heavens opened over Cardiff and rain called a halt to proceedings for the day.
The poor weather is expected to last overnight but will be clear by early morning, giving the groundstaff time to clear the outfield and a likely 98 overs for Australia to take eight wickets.
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Day Three (close)
England 435 [Pietersen 69, Collingwood 64, Prior 56] v
Australia 479-5 [Katich 122, Ponting 150, Clarke 83, North 54*]
AUSTRALIA moved into a commanding position at close on day three in the First Test at Sophia Gardens.
The tourists moved past England's first innings total and had a lead of 44 at stumps, allowing them to set up a victory charge on the final two days of play.
Resuming on 249-1, England made inroads into the Aussie batting order in the morning session when three wickets fell.
First, Simon Katich was out lbw for 122 after James Anderson belatedly found some swing.
He was followed by Mike Hussey who made only three before nicking one behind to Matt Prior off Anderson's bowling.
And just moments later, Ricky Ponting's innings of 150 was over after he played on to the stumps after being deceived by Monty Panesar.
At lunch, Australia were still 89 behind with two new batsmen at the crease and England knew that quick wickets in the afternoon session would leave the match in the balance.
But Michael Clarke and Marcus North steadied the innings as Australia went through the middle session without losing a wicket and edged past England's total.
Clarke eventually fell on 83 to Stuart Broad's bowling as Prior took his third catch of the game in an evening session which was interrupted by rain.
Having failed to make the required impact on day three, England will now be hoping the unsettled forecast for Cardiff this weekend does not change as they battle to rescue a draw.
But if the bad weather holds off and Australia can bat well, they will be looking to bat for most of the fourth day before putting England in for the final few overs then exerting further pressure on the final day.
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Day Two (close)
England 435 [Pietersen 69, Collingwood 64, Prior 56] v
Australia 249-1 [Katich 104no, Ponting 100no]
AUSTRALIAN batsmen Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting staged a fantastic fightback after England's tail took the hosts beyond 400 on the second morning of the First Test.
Katich remains unbeaten on 104 with skipper Ponting on 100 not out in a second wicket partnership of 189 to put the tourists in a strong position going into day three.
Australia may still trail by 186 but, with nine wickets in hand, will be looking for a large enough innings lead to declare and put England's batsmen under pressure.
Before Ponting took to the crease, Ashes debutant Philip Hughes had dominated the early stages of the innings. But he could only make a contribution of 36 before being caught behind by Matt Prior off Andrew Flintoff's bowling.
England's attack was mystified with the lack of swing which had been in evidence for the Australian bowlers and they toiled in the field as the runs piled up.
Earlier, England's tail performed impressively, adding 106 runs for the final three wickets.
Resuming day two on 336-7, Stuart Broad fell early when bowled by Mitchell Johnson but this brought Graeme Swann to the crease.
Swann scored 47 not out off just 40 balls to assist nightwatchman James Anderson who was finally out on 26 to a catch by Mike Hussey off Nathan Hauritz's bowling.
Once Anderson departed, Swann continued for as long as he could with Monty Panesar at the other end before Panesar was caught by Ponting off Hauritz for 4.
England may have struggled against Katich and Ponting on day two but must retain belief they are still in this match.
If England's bowlers can find swing and reverse swing, and start to put pressure on the Aussie batsmen, there is still a chance that the likely first innings deficit can be kept below 100 runs.
A strong second innings performance with the bat for England should then secure the draw before they could attack on a final day pitch.
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