Ponting’s Brilliance Puts Australia On the Brink

Australia will go into day five of the first Ashes test with a real chance of taking a 1-0 lead in the series after leaving England 22-2 as rain halted play on the penultimate day in Cardiff.

After declaring on 674-6 and with a lead of 231 England lost both Alistair Cook and Ravi Bopara in the final seven overs before rain saved the blushes of the rest of the England batting line-up.

Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus found much needed swing in those closing overs, something that was lacking from the England attack as a third successive day in the field produced scant reward.

Brad Haddin scored a superb century along with Marucs North whose showed England’s batsman that even a restrained innings could produce decent results in an innings that fashioned four Australian centurions.

The hosts will now have to bat out the entire of day five in hope of saving a match that from day two onwards had been dominated by the tourists.

A day after eulogising over Ricky Ponting’s batting display, it was the Aussies captaincy that came to the fore after an astute declaration gave his seamers half an hour before tea to work over the England openers, with instant success.

Bopara can however consider himself unfortunate to be dismissed after being caught high on the pad above the knee role by Hilfenhaus, but not so Cook who got no-where near a swing delivery from Mitchell Johnson,

The England bowlers will be particularly baffled by the amount of swing both Johnson and Hilfenhaus were able to create in the seven over spell before tea, an attribute that did for both Cook and Bopara.

The two who will be opening up for England tomorrow morning both have points to prove, and for Andrew Strauss in particular an opportunity to draw an equal with his Australian counterpart.

Ponting’s innings was not only a classy batting display, its was the driving force behind Australia’s huge total as he set an example of how to take an Ashes test by the scruff of the neck.

Strauss needs to make the same impression tomorrow, and as for Kevin Pietersen he needs to shun all the criticism he’s received since his first day dismissal and take the game to the Australians.

Personally I felt the criticism that came his way was slightly unfair, as like any other batsman it was a lapse in concentration.

Maybe if some of England’s other middle order came to the party more often we wouldn’t complain about our only world class players’ lack of judgement.

England do have an uphill struggle tomorrow, and Pietersen and Strauss are key to any chance of them saving the game.

On the fifth day of any test match you would assume that the pitch would give enough to the bowlers to all but right off any chance of the batting team protecting eight wickets, but not on this pitch.

With swing hard to come by, until this evening’s play under the lights, wickets will be difficult to find as England’s bowlers will tell you.

If swing comes the way of the Australian seamers and Nathan Haurtiz bowls a best ever spell then Australia have more than a chance of winning this match, if not, then we’ll be heading to Lords on Thursday all square with England having lived for another day.