Matthew Hoggard produced the finest performance of thegame with a sweaty seven-wicket collection as thesecond Test drifted towards a draw
Peter English at Adelaide04-Dec-2006 England 1 for 59 (Strauss 31*, Bell 18*) and 6 for 551dec lead Australia 513 (Ponting 142, Clarke 124) by 97 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out – Australia
How they were out – England
Matthew Hoggard took the second-best figures by an Englishman at Adelaide: 7 for 109 © Getty Images
Matthew Hoggard produced the finest performance of thegame with a sweaty seven-wicket collection as thesecond Test drifted towards a draw. Michael Clarke’s124 saved Australia from a fifth day of stress whileHoggard’s tireless work on a pitch borrowed from thenearby airport runway allowed England to take a 38-runadvantage after the first innings of an absorbing armwrestle. The lead reached 97 at stumps for the loss ofAlastair Cook.Hoggard charged in more regularly than the fleet ofpassenger planes preparing to land during his 42 oversand was suitably rewarded with 7 for 109. The Test hasbeen played on the type of docile surface hardly everseen in Australia and he is the only bowler to managemore victims than Stuart Clark’s four. It was acourageous display that must not be buried by theavalanche of runs provided by Collingwood, Clarke,Ponting and Pietersen,England had prised only one wicket from the first twosessions until Hoggard ended Shane Warne’s resistanceon the final ball before tea, capturing his fifthdismissal. After the break he removed Clarke when thebatsman made his first real mistake and then deliveredan inswinger into Clark’s leg stump. An eighthbreakthrough seemed likely as Glenn McGrath loped outbut James Anderson ended Australia’s innings at 513.The home side started the day 239 runs behind andeasily avoided any follow-on slips as Clarke combinedwith Adam Gilchrist, whose bright 64 from 79 ballsprovided an early high tempo. The following twosessions were more attritional and Clarke played amature innings to earn his first hundred in two years.Clarke approached his third Test century, which camefrom 183 balls, in a calm manner and his 118-runpartnership with Shane Warne ended the remote chancesof a positive result for either team. Andrew Flintoff,who left the field late in the innings for treatmenton his left ankle, set blocking fields down the groundfor Clarke and the bowlers delivered full deliveriesin a bid to chop off his runs and entice a rash shot.The tactic had worked at Lord’s in 2005 but, unlike acouple of his current team-mates, Clarke acted morewisely and sat on Steve Harmison and then JamesAnderson until he could pierce the restrictive fence.Clarke eventually punched Anderson wide of cover forfour to move to 90 and he picked up nine runs fromanother Anderson over, including a superb drivenboundary wide of mid-off, to close on three figures.
Clarke: patience, not power © Getty Images
After six defensive efforts to Ashley Giles he found asingle in front of point from Anderson, kissed hishelmet badge and received a caring hug from Warne. Therelieved celebration did not last long and he was soonbeing attended to by the physio for a left-armproblem.What the innings means for Australia’s third Test teamis still to be decided, but Clarke has re-sealed aspot at an important time for the next generation.Clarke, who usually rattles the boundaries in longinnings, struck only nine fours during his 224-ballstay and was happy to deflect singles and twos off hiship and nudge between a cramped infield.Resuming on 30, he drove airily through the gully oncein the morning and it was his only noticeable mistakeuntil he chipped across the line to Hoggard and wascaught at midwicket. He was disappointed to departshortly after returning from tea but like Hoggard hedeserved the generous ovation on leaving the ground.The acts of Gilchrist and Warne were also appreciated.Warne left with 43 after passing 3000 Test runs on 25and absorbing the over-the-wicket attack of Giles.Having bowled a similar defensive line to KevinPietersen, Warne knew the way to defend the negativeapproach and spent much of the time padding up.Gilchrist, who twice edged short and wide of gully,was not really interested in shelving his shots and heholed out to Ian Bell off Giles. He had showed hisintent with a fierce sweep that clattered the helmetof Cook at short leg. Cook required immediateattention, but he continued to field and opened thebatting in a brief appearance.Clark popped up to dismiss Cook in his first over withan edge to Gilchrist before Andrew Strauss (31) andBell (18) also survived a testing mini-spell fromWarne. England will begin the final day at 1 for 59 asboth teams attempt to score psychological benefits.