A superb cameo innings from Graeme Swann led England to a competitive total of 435 on the second morning of the first innings against Australia in Cardiff.
Swann was left stranded on 47 not out when Monty Panesar became the final victim of the innings - caught by Ricky Ponting at slip off the bowling of Nathan Hauritz.
Valuable contributions also came from tail-enders James Anderson (26) and Stuart Broad (19) as England eased past 400 after resuming on 336-7 overnight.
The early loss of Stuart Broad threatened to derail the home side’s quest for a decent total. The capable batsmen - arguably England’s best tail-ender - became Australian strike-bowler Mitchell Johnson’s third victim of the innings when his stumps were scattered in the fourth over of the day.
In truth, the dismissal was an unfortunate one as the ball outside leg stump struck the bottom of Broad’s thigh pad and dragged back to dislodge the off-stump bail.
Still, England stuck at their task and Swann’s excellent innings, which came off just 40 balls, helped England add 99 runs on the second day for the loss of the final three wickets.
Thu, Jul 9, 2009
Cricket, Football Channel, General Sport, News Ticker, Non ITN update (Do Not Use), Scottish Power national news feed, Sports Channel