User:Aaroncrick/First Test, 2005 Ashes series

Day One
Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat in the opening Test at Lord's, London. England's opening bowler Steve Harmison—who struggled for form a consistency on their recent tour of South Africa—shook up the Australian batsmen early on, hitting Justin Langer on the elbow with the second ball of the match. The pitch offered bounce and swing from the start, while Matthew Hoggard swung a ball between Matthew Hayden's bat and pad and into his off stump. Hayden was dismissed for 12, having, according to a BBC report, "played nervously from the word go". In the 11th over, Ponting attempted to hook Harmison, but was struck on the face. The blow later required eight stitches; however the Australian captain batted on, before the Harmison had Ponting edging a defensive shot to Strauss at third slip. Langer was the next batsman to be dismissed, when he sliced a hook shot off Andrew Flintoff straight up in the air, for 40. In the next over, Simon Jones was brought onto bowl, and got immediate success, when he had Damien Martyn caught behind for 2. In the penultimate over before lunch, Michael Clarke was lbw to Jones, leaving Australia five down with only 97 runs on the board after the first session of play.

After lunch, Jones and Flintoff returned to the bowling crease, with Gilchrist edging the latter to the keeper in the sixth over after the resumption. The Australian wicket-keeper struck six fours in his 26. Simon Katich and Shane Warne fought to save the Australians from an embarrassing total, with Katich defending stodgily. Nevertheless, Warne was more confident, hitting Flintoff for six. He failed to see off Harmison, who had Australia's leading wicket-taker bowled for 28, after having him dropped at gully on 23, as Australia slumped to 7/175. Katich (27) was dismissed in the same over when he knicked a ball to Jones. In Harmison's following over, Lee was dropped by Pieterson at gully, before inside-edging a delivery to Jones later in the over. The fast-bowler had Jason Gillespie leg before wicket in his following over, to dismiss the world champions for 190 in the 41st over. He completed a spell of 4/7 from 14 balls, securing his first ever five-for [5/43] against Australia.

Glenn McGrath was the not out batsman—ending with 10 runs—before he opened the bowling with Brett Lee. England batted for six overs until tea, scoring ten runs without the loss of a wicket, but McGrath—who bowled his usual accurate line and length— reaped the rewards after tea. Marcus Trescothick fell first ball after the resumption, edging to slip to become McGrath's 500th victim in Test cricket, and Strauss fell in similar fashion three balls later. Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell survived six overs, adding seven runs, before McGrath had them bowled in the innings' 13th and 15th overs. Flintoff was bowled by McGrath in the 17th over, and England had lost five wickets for 21 runs, with five of their top six batsmen out in single figures. McGrath had taken 5/2, and had "swung the match." However, Kevin Pietersen and Geraint Jones batted together to add 58—England's highest partnership of the innings—and according to the BBC report, treated "Jason Gillespie with some disdain". A short ball from Brett Lee was too much for Jones, however, and he fended it to wicket-keeper Gilchrist to be out for 30. Ashley Giles hit two boundaries to finish the over, but the last ball of Lee's next over was glanced to the keeper, and Giles was out for 11—stepping on his stumps in the process: England 7/92 at stumps; 98 runs behind Australia. The day saw 17 wickets fall, and though Australia lost ten of them, the BBC thought Australia were in the box-seat. The usually aggressive Pieterson—who was in his first Test—fought his way to 28 in two hours, showing his determination. Harmison was interviewed by the MCC Museum after stumps were drawn. "I don't care if a player gets hurt," he said commenting on the blow he delivered Ponting. "It's my job. I'm six-foot-five.

Day Two
England cut the deficit on the second morning, but were still bowled out before they could build a first-innings lead. Hoggard departed for a 16-ball duck, cutting a delivery from Shane Warne to Hayden in the slips. Pietersen now started to attack, taking twenty-one runs off seven deliveries before he was out caught by Damien Martyn, a diving catch just inside the boundary, and England were nine down for 122, still trailing by 68. The English tenth wicket pairing of Simon Jones and Harmison added 33 after that, a stand which was fifth-highest of the game thus far and which reduced Australia's lead to 35 runs. In the field, England started by having Langer run out for 6 in the fifth over, but Hayden and Ricky Ponting rebuilt to bat until lunch unbeaten.

Though Hayden was bowled by Flintoff for 34 three overs after lunch, the batsmen from three to six all passed forty; it was to be the only time in the series that Australia accomplished this feat. Clarke needed an extra life to do it, but made England pay after Pietersen dropped him on 21, and thus the partnership was allowed to last for 34.3 overs, with 155 runs being scored. Flintoff was smashed to all corners, with 84 runs being scored off him in his nineteen second-day overs, but in the last ten overs England came back to take wickets. Started by an inside-edge from Clarke off Hoggard, which left Australia's 24-year-old batsman bowled for 91, and Australia lost a further three wickets for 24 runs before the end of the day. The Australian lead was still 314, twice England's first innings total and then some, and Katich was still batting, not out on 10.

Day Three
Four overs into the morning, specialist spin bowler Ashley Giles was involved in a dismissal for the only time in the match, having Lee run out for 8. However, Jason Gillespie batted for an hour and 15 minutes, and took part in a 52-run stand with the recognised batsman, Katich before Simon Jones got his reward with an away-swinger that crashed into Gillespie's off-stump - after having three catches dropped. The last wicket partnership rubbed it in with 43 more runs before Katich was caught by Simon Jones off Harmison, but England were set what would be a world record 420 to win.

They started positively, riding some favorable umpiring decisions; Aleem Dar turned down four strong leg before wicket (LBW) appeals off Shane Warne. Strauss and Trescothick could thus add 80 for the first wicket before Strauss edged a short-ball from Lee back into the bowler's waiting hands. Vaughan got off the mark with a four with his second ball, before facing 24 dot balls in the next three-quarters of an hour. Meanwhile, wickets fell at the other end, as Trescothick departed for 44, edging a straight ball from Warne to first slip after having taken him for ten in the previous over, and Bell was out LBW to a ball that didn't turn. Three overs later, Vaughan was bowled cleanly by Lee and Flintoff gave a catch to Gilchrist, England were five down for 115, and though Pietersen once again put on more than 40 runs with Geraint Jones, England still needed 301 for the last five wickets, which would mean five partnerships higher than England had managed all match.

Day Four
Rain frustrated both Australia and neutral fans who wanted to see cricket played on the morning of the fourth day, but at 1545 BST the rain relented and the covers were taken off. Then, it took ten overs for Australia to wrap up England's innings, McGrath taking four of the five wickets required and Warne the last; Giles, Hoggard, Harmison and Simon Jones were all dismissed for ducks, and England could only cut 24 runs off Australia's eventual win margin of 239. 22 of those fourth-day runs came from Pietersen who was left stranded on an unbeaten 64 to have a Test batting average of 121 after his first match.