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Andrew Miller presents the highlights from the fourth day at Lord’s as Tamim Iqbal captivates the crowd with a brilliant hundred and Jonathan Trott claims a vital first Test wicket

Andrew Miller at Lord's30-May-2010Celebration of the dayIt was Michael Slater who first dispensed with decorum at Lord’s when, in 1993, he punched the air and kissed the crest of his Australia helmet after reaching his maiden Test hundred. Today, Tamim Iqbal carried that exuberance an extra yard or 20. Having cavorted through the nineties in a calculated assault on Tim Bresnan, he secured Bangladesh’s first Test century at the home of cricket with a dismissive smack back over the bowler’s head, whereupon he hurtled almost to within touching distance of the dressing-room balcony, and pointed to the back of his shirt as if to tell his team-mates to get on with the business of sticking his name up on the honours-board. Clearly, in his excitement, Tamim forgot that his name only appears on his back in ODI and Twenty20 contests, but after racking up a sublime century from 94 deliveries, he might as well have been playing limited-overs.Shot of the dayThere were so many to choose from, most of them audacious and nearly all of them impeccably timed, but nothing confirmed the presence of a rare talent quite like the short-arm pull with which Tamim rifled Steven Finn through midwicket for four. The shot was the third of three fours in a row, and whereas the first two were based entirely on bravado – a bludgeoning drive and a streaky edge – this was an emphatic stamp of class. The ball was short and rose steeply, but Tamim rocked back with his weight perched daintily on one leg, a la Brian Lara, and all that remained was for the fielders to whistle in admiration.Acceleration of the dayThroughout their alliances at the top of the Bangladesh order, Tamim and Imrul Kayes have been like the hare and the tortoise – only without the twist to the end of the fable. Until this Test, Kayes’ highest score in 22 Test innings had been a measly 33, and it was to his great credit that the lure of Lord’s brought him out of his shell. After a first-innings 43, Kayes was briefly the pacesetter in the follow-on, as he hustled along to 48 from 71 balls, with Tamim trailing in his wake on 37 not out (albeit from just 44 balls). But then, while Kayes fretted over his landmark, Tamim went into overdrive, adding 40 runs to his total from 27 balls before his partner could notch up his fifty.Over of the dayAs England discovered to their frustration on Friday, their attack was pretty toothless when the sun broke through the clouds. So, when Andrew Strauss turned to his spinner, Graeme Swann, at 102 for 0 in the 22nd over, he did so in the knowledge that he was running short on options. Tamim’s response was to batter England’s Player of the Year into submission from the word go. The first ball was a mistimed charge that telegraphed his intent; the second ball was belted high and handsomely into the Mound Stand for six. A brutal drive for four came next, and then it was down onto one knee once more, for another scintillating slog-sweep over the ropes. Seventeen runs were swiped from the over, as England’s toils continued.Breakthrough of the dayJonathan Trott once claimed career-best bowling figures of 7 for 39 – unfortunately the horse (Kent on that occasion) had already bolted by the time he was called into the attack, with his first wicket coming at 534 for 3. He’d have been forgiven for feeling a similar sense of foreboding when Andrew Strauss threw him the ball as a last resort this afternoon, with Bangladesh cruising on 265 for 2. But in a diligent spell of wicket-to-wicket medium-pace, Trott throttled the run-rate and made the incision, as Jahurul Islam inside-edged into his pads, for the bowler to snaffle a sprawling chance in his followthrough.Cameo of the dayMohammad Ashraful could not have hoped for friendlier conditions as he walked out for his second innings of the match. The ground was lit up by late-evening sunshine, his top-order colleagues had demonstrated beyond any doubt the absence of malice in the pitch (and the opposition, for that matter), and as for the Lord’s faithful, they were bound to be predisposed to a player whom they still recall and revere for his Aussie-toppling innings at Cardiff in 2005. Sure enough, he notched his first boundary from the third delivery he faced, then added three four in the space of eight deliveries, including a sumptuous uppercut to deflect Finn through third man. Alas, it was not to last. Jimmy Anderson, armed with the new ball, tied him down in a tight and threatening over, before inducing a nick through to Matt Prior.

James Franklin fell one run short of becoming the first Gloucestershire player this season to hit a County Championship century

29-Jun-2010

ScorecardJames Franklin fell one run short of becoming the first Gloucestershire player this season to hit a County Championship century as his side took control of the game against Middlesex at Bristol. The New Zealand allrounder was caught off a top-edged pull shot for 99, his third score in the 90s this summer. But it set up a first-innings total of 404 for 8 and a lead of 168 going into the third day. Hamish Marshall contributed 68, Alex Gidman 61 and Chris Dent 53.It was a tough day in the field for Middlesex, who were without Owais Shah for much of it because of a back problem. Pedro Collins also suffered a back injury when diving for a ball, but was able to take the second new ball after treatment. Gloucestershire began on 81 for 2 and progressed sedately as overnight batsmen Marshall and Dent consolidated with half-centuries. Marshall was first to his fifty off 75 balls, with seven fours and a six.England Under-19 player Dent has played some valuable innings in his first season of championship cricket and the left-hander again showed good temperament in facing 112 deliveries for his half-century, which featured six fours and a six. The partnership of 126 was broken when Dent fended a chest-high ball from Toby Roland-Jones to Scott Newman at short square-leg.That brought in skipper Gidman, who helped take the total to 193 for 3 at lunch. Marshall then fell to the second ball of the afternoon session, bowled pushing forward to Neil Dexter without addition to the score. When Chris Taylor was also bowled, shouldering arms in Dexter’s next over it was 199 for 5 and Gloucestershire were still 37 behind.But Gidman was well set and reached his fifty off 86 balls, with eight fours as he and Franklin produced a partnership of 76 to put their side 39 runs ahead. It ended when the captain played across a topspinner from Dawid Malan and departed lbw. Middlesex immediately took the second new ball, but neither Collins nor Tim Murtagh could force another breakthrough.At tea it was 319 for 6, with Franklin on 45. Jon Lewis made a valuable 30 and by the time he was run out by bowler Tom Smith attempting a suicidal single Gloucestershire’s lead was 88.Franklin hit five fours in a composed 87-ball fifty and then added two sixes. He looked sure to reach three figures when miscuing a short ball from Dexter and watching in horror as Smith claimed a good catch at deep square. Gloucestershire still went on to maximum batting points and look well placed to boost their promotion challenge.

Kevin Pietersen’s ongoing struggle for form remains England’s single biggest concern following a thumping 354-run victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge

Andrew Miller at Trent Bridge01-Aug-2010Kevin Pietersen’s ongoing struggle for form remains England’s single biggest concern following a thumping 354-run victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge. The match was wrapped up with five sessions to spare as James Anderson dismissed the visitors for 80 in their second innings, but having contributed scores of 9 and 22 to the contest, Pietersen has now gone 22 innings without a Test century, with the most recent of his 16 hundreds coming against West Indies at Trinidad in March 2009.Pietersen has not been entirely devoid of form in that time. He made 99 against Bangladesh at Chittagong in March before claiming the Man of the Series award for his flamboyant performances in England’s triumphant World Twenty20 campaign. But the consistent dominance that he showed against all opponents up to and including the time of his removal as England captain in early 2009 has deserted him, and shows no sign of returning in the immediate future.England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, repeated a familiar team refrain when he declared that Pietersen’s determination to succeed was as absolute as ever, and while there was little to show for his contribution in the scorebook, Strauss singled out his second-innings effort of 22 as a vital factor in enabling England to pull away from Pakistan in the latter stages of the third day. Having come to the crease early following the loss of both openers, Pietersen added 48 for the third wicket with Jonathan Trott, before Kamran Akmal clung onto an outstanding one-handed catch to dismiss him via an inside-edge.”KP is fine,” Strauss said. “He wasn’t able to make a telling contribution in this game, although he batted better in the second innings and made a very important contribution because both him and Trott had to dig deep. The contributions maybe don’t look all that good in terms of the figures they finished up the game with, but the first 30 overs of every innings was very tough work for batting, and there were more contributions than just the guys who got the big runs.”All the same, Pietersen has had a variety of distractions in recent weeks – both on the home front, where he recently became a father for the first time, and perhaps more significantly, down at his county Hampshire, where he is now persona non grata after declaring his intention to seek a new base closer to his London home. As a consequence of that, he was recently snubbed for a CB40 fixture against Kent, after the ECB requested that he play to gain match practice ahead of the Test.Strauss, however, was confident that that row had not impacted significantly on his cricket. “KP has always been very clear in his mind what he needs to do practice-wise, and that’s not changed on the back of him not getting a county game with Hampshire,” he said. “He’s done a lot of work with Gooch, and the most important thing is he feels well prepared. Not playing in that game hasn’t made him feel less prepared.”We’re all hopeful he does find a club for next season, because it’s important for there to be that relationship between the counties and the England team, and that it’s a healthy relationship. On the one hand, England players can go there to get form, on the other, those England players can pass on their experience to the younger guys in the county dressing room. That’s how it works.”

Zimbabwe continue to offer the likeliest possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan, with the board indicating its willingness to help victims of the floods that have ravaged Pakistan

Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2010Zimbabwe continue to offer the likeliest possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan, with the board indicating its willingness to help victims of the floods that have ravaged Pakistan.After New Zealand cricket embarrased the PCB by denying a claim from officials that they were willing to play in Pakistan to help raise funds for flood victims, Peter Chingoka, chairman Zimbabwe Cricket, said his players were ready and willing to play in a country where no international cricket has taken place since March 2009, following the terror attacks on the touring Sri Lanka side.The PCB revealed two days ago that talks were on with Zimbabwe even before the floods to arrange a series to mark the return of international cricket to Pakistan but the natural disaster now means that matches are likely to be played to raise funds. “At this point in time we just have one thing in mind and that is to help people and minimise their suffering for which we are ready to play in Pakistan,” Chingoka told . “We sent the offer following approval from all the players who also want to play a role in helping millions of people in Pakistan.”Pakistan’s packed schedule, however, means that no dates have yet been set. The side is due to play a full Test and ODI series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in October-November, soon after the end of the current tour to England in late September. Then they travel to New Zealand for the second time in two years – this time for the away series as opposed to 2009’s ‘home’ series arrangement – for a series of two Tests, six ODIs and three T20s. That tour ends on February 5 and the World Cup begins exactly two weeks later.”Both boards are working on a plan to finalise the schedule but so far it is undecided,” Chingoka said. “Both boards are trying to hold a series soon and it may take place before the World Cup 2011.”Meanwhile, the Pakistan board didn’t react to denials from NZC about the alleged offer to play a flood relief game in Pakistan. PCB officials continue to maintain privately that such an offer was hinted at in an email from Justin Vaughan, chief executive NZC, though they are unwilling to take it any further now. There was supposed to be an official PCB response on Monday to Vaughan’s comments, but none came eventually.:The Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund: https://ptiuk.org/flood-appeal/The Zindagi Trust: https://zindagitrust.org/donation-flood-disaster-relief.asp: https://www.chowrangi.com/donation-links-and-relief-resources-for-pakistan-flood-victims.html

New Zealand’s Dambulla adventure had started so promisingly, with their biggest win over India, but it ended on a disheartening note for their inexperienced side

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla25-Aug-2010New Zealand’s Dambulla adventure had started so promisingly, with their biggest win over India, but it ended on a disheartening note for their inexperienced side, which was eliminated after a 105-run defeat in the final league match.Hamstrung by the absence of senior bowlers, Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram, New Zealand were unable to keep the pressure on India after their bowlers inflicted another top-order collapse. Their captain, Ross Taylor, picked out the 107-run stand between Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni for the fifth wicket as the turning point.”The partnership between Sehwag and Dhoni was about 100-odd and we lost by that margin,” he said. “We were just outplayed in all areas of the game. India played well and we didn’t.”After that partnership, New Zealand prised out the final five wickets for 24 runs, restricting India to 223, which Man of the Match Sehwag didn’t think was enough at the time. “I didn’t think it was a winning total,” he said. “But since they had only two experienced batsmen in Styris and Taylor, we knew if we could get early wickets, we would put them under pressure.”Both Styris and Taylor were part of a feeble batting performance, which began so poorly that New Zealand’s chances of victory evaporated as early as the ninth over. “I guess we didn’t start well and, when you get put on the back foot straightaway, a total like 220 is a long way away,” Taylor said. “They bowled well but our batters, we just didn’t step up. It’s disappointing to finish the tournament on a poor note.”New Zealand briefly threatened to break the record for their lowest total in ODIs but avoided that embarrassment thanks to an entertaining, but futile, half-century from vice-captain Kyle Mills. He lashed two straight sixes off Ravindra Jadeja and one powerful pull over square leg off Praveen Kumar on his way to a 35-ball 52. From 52 for 7, Mills hauled New Zealand to a more respectable 118.”When I went out to bat, I just tried to be as aggressive as I possibly could,” Mills said. “There probably was no expectation of you to go out and chase down 220 runs. I was fortunate I was able to get myself in for the first six or so balls and I decided I would be aggressive. I got a couple in my areas and I was able to get them away.”While the margin of defeat was dispiriting, Taylor said there were plenty of gains for New Zealand during the tournament, and chose Andy McKay and Kane Williamson as players to watch. “One of the biggest things is probably the experience over here, and the experience we have given some youngsters.”McKay was the fastest of New Zealand’s bowlers while Williamson had a tough initiation to international cricket, making ducks in his first two matches. “I guess Andy McKay is not young but he is very raw and the way he has bowled over the last two or three games is exciting,” Taylor said. “Williamson, we didn’t see the best of him with the bat, but his bowling – he’s a better bowler than a part-timer. If he can keep improving both skills, then we can take that.”Dambulla’s pitch wasn’t the typical flat, batting wicket expected of the subcontinent, which would have been ideal preparation for next year’s World Cup, but New Zealand will get a taste of those conditions in their next assignment, a full tour of India starting in early November.

Surrey’s off-field staff could face redundancies as the club streamlines its structures in an attempt to plug a budget deficit and deal with reduced revenues from ticket sales

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2010Surrey’s off-field staff could face redundancies as the club streamlines its structures in an attempt to plug a budget deficit and deal with reduced revenues from ticket sales. “We want to get the club structured so we can cope for what we expect to be much worse times next year,” chief executive Paul Sheldon told . “This is in keeping with a global response to difficult times.”The news comes with the England & Wales Cricket Board expected to endorse plans to cut the number of group games in next year’s domestic Twenty20 competition from 16 to 10, with counties divided in three groups as opposed to this year’s two, at its meeting on Wednesday. Most counties faced lower attendances at individual games this summer and there was widespread dissatisfaction among players at the amount of fixtures on the domestic schedule.”Two summers ago we played 10 group games, five home and five away. That worked very well,” said Sheldon. “This summer we increased the number of games and the same number of people came to watch eight home matches as came to watch five. We’ve spread the audience across the board and I hope we learn from that.”Last year we had the Ashes, which was a fantastic experience and made us a lot of money,” said Sheldon. This summer was the first time for 25 years that our Test match has not sold out and it is my responsibility as chief executive of the business to make sure that we react to that.”

Travis Dowlin, who has captained West Indies A, has been dropped from Guyana’s 14-member squad for the WICB one-day championship in Jamaica starting next week

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2010Travis Dowlin has been dropped from Guyana’s squad for the WICB one-day championship in Jamaica starting next week. Sewnarine Chattergoon and wicketkeeper Derwin Christian have also been left out from the 14-member squad.Dowlin, who has captained West Indies A, was not offered a central contract by the West Indies board in August, as the WICB felt his performances in the preceding year were “less than favourable”. This came after his axing from the West Indies side for the third Test in Barbados against South Africa in June.Dowlin scored 26 runs from four games for Guyana in the recent Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. Chattergoon and Christian also had a poor tournament, managing 23 and 14 runs respectively from three innings.Guyana will be led by Ramnaresh Sarwan and the squad includes new players for the 50-over format in Jonathan Foo, Keon Joseph and Richard Ramdeen.Foo impressed with his batting performance in the Caribbean Twenty20 in July. Joseph, the 18-year-old fast bowler, has played one first-class game for Guyana earlier this year, and has also represented West Indies Under-19. Ramdeen played for Guyana in the Champions League against South Australia.Guyana will play in Group B alongside Barbados, Leeward Islands and the Sagicor High Performance Centre XI in the tournament to be played from October 14 to 24.Guyana squad:
Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Chris Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Esuan Crandon, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Leon Johnson, Keon Joseph, Richard Ramdeen

India should field a rare full-strength XI against a New Zealand side struggling to win games, but Dhoni isn’t taking their opposition lightly

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2010It’s been a rarity in recent times to see a full-strength India XI on the field during a Test match. At the Motera stadium on Thursday, MS Dhoni may finally be able to call on the best available, and with no injuries or niggles to complain of on the eve of the game, it was a prospect that he was looking forward to. “We have important series coming up,” he said. “After this, we go to South Africa and then we have the World Cup. If you see the last few series we’ve played, more often than not we’ve missed key players.”The lack of continuity has been most keenly felt in the pace-bowling department. Zaheer Khan missed the three Tests in Sri Lanka, but has otherwise shouldered most of the pace burden, with no consistency at the other end. “Fast bowling is a demanding job,” Dhoni said. “If a batsman is only 70 or 80 percent, you can still gamble and play him, but with a fast bowler you can’t do that, especially when you’re playing with two seamers and two spinners. If you’re missing one bowler, it gets very difficult to get through 90 overs in a day.”New Zealand have lost eight of their last 15 Tests, and won only two, and were blanked 4-0 in a one-day series in Bangladesh recently. But according to Dhoni, there was no danger of India disrespecting their opponents or taking victory for granted. “It will be a big mistake to take any side lightly,” he said. “They’ve got players who have performed everywhere they have played. Whatever happened [to New Zealand] in Bangladesh, we’re not really thinking about that.”His own side have been ranked No.1 for nearly a year now and haven’t lost a series since Sri Lanka in 2008. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve done well abroad too,” said Dhoni when asked if he felt more pressure on home turf. “That’s one thing with the Indian cricket team. The expectation level keeps on going up. It never comes down. Once you achieve a certain level, you’re expected to maintain that or do better as a team. I think Indian cricketers have done well to manage the expectations and the extra pressure.”It doesn’t matter if you’re playing Australia, New Zealand or Bangladesh. We set ourselves short-term goals. When it comes to a particular game, a lot depends on the toss.”Talk of the No.1 ranking was greeted with the usual nonchalance. “Winning games is closer [to my heart],” he said. “When you win games, the ratings take care of themselves. What the players and support staff are bothered about is how we do on the field, whether we’ve prepared well and planned for the opposition. At times in international cricket, you will be outplayed. But if you’ve done everything that you can, we accept that.”He did suggest, however, that the winning habit did much for team spirit. “When a team has lost a few games and pressure is applied, if they don’t start well, they tend to fragment or go in different directions,” said Dhoni. “When a team’s used to winning, it sticks together and waits for an opportunity to do well or go back into a game.”That has been illustrated in each of India’s last three Tests, when they’ve had to chase in excess of 200 to win games. At the P Sara Oval and the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they did so comfortably. At Mohali, VVS Laxman’s genius helped them creep over the line in an incredibly tense finish. “I would certainly love to win the toss [laughs], but that’s one good thing that has happened,” he said. “In the fourth innings, batsmen have to play cautiously and even if set, one odd delivery can get you. It adds to the confidence of the batting unit.”The one man in that unit under a little pressure is Rahul Dravid, who hasn’t had the best time of it in 2010. “He’s a great player, and has always bounced back from situations like these,” said Dhoni. “Once he’s set, we’re hoping he gets a big score. He’s looking very good in the nets, so we expect runs from him.”There were encouraging words too for Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, prominent in that Bangalore victory but certain to miss out on places in the XI here. “Vijay and Pujara were replacing Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman,” he said. “When you have players like that coming back, they find a place in the playing XI. But I don’t think it’s demotivating. Vijay has always done well for India. And Pujara batted really well in the second innings in the last game.”India have now lost the toss in 10 successive Tests [Dhoni captained in nine of them, missing Chittagong through injury] and the spin of the coin aside, there will also be much attention devoted to the pitch, which has seen scores of 76 and 760 in the last two games played at the Motera. “Hopefully, it will be a turner,” said Dhoni with a smile. “We’ll have to see before the start of play. It has less grass when compared to the Sri Lanka game [November 2009] and a lot less than the South Africa game [April 2008]. It looks like a normal Indian track.”

Marcus Trescothick believes Alastair Cook can go on and break a host of batting records after his monumental unbeaten 235 against Australia

Andrew McGlashan30-Nov-2010Marcus Trescothick believes Alastair Cook can go on and break a host of batting records after his monumental unbeaten 235, against Australia in Brisbane, which enabled England to save the opening Ashes Test. Cook beat Don Bradman’s Gabba record for an individual score as he and Jonathan Trott added a mammoth 329 for the second wicket.In many ways Cook has been the long-term successor to Trescothick at the top of England’s order. Although he made his debut as an opener before Trescothick’s enforced retirement from the international scene, Cook only took that position permanently during the 2006-07 series in Australia.”You can just see from the way he approaches his cricket that it was only ever going to be a matter of time before produced this sort of performance,” Trescothick told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s a young and could go on and break all sorts of records in the years to come.”The early end to Trescothick’s Test career is often cited as one of the key reasons for England’s whitewash on that trip as the top order struggled to impose themselves against a formidable attack. Cook, despite a second-innings hundred at Perth, ended with a disappointing 276 runs at 27.60.In one Test he has surpassed that tally, after beginning with a battling 67 in the first innings, and Trescothick never had any doubt in Cook’s ability even when he was going through his summer slump against Pakistan. Turning 26 on Christmas Day – the same birthday as Trescothick – Cook appears set to finish his career as England’s leading Test scorer, a position currently held by his mentor Graham Gooch.”It shows the quality of the player. We know the sort of character he is and he’s an important member of the team,” Trescothick said. “He’s always worked hard. All he needed was to get that big score and he’s been building up to it during the warm-up matches, then got fifty in the first innings at the Gabba before finishing off with a brilliant double hundred.”Cook’s opening stand of 188 with Andrew Strauss set England on their way to saving the opening Test and it was the positive approach they took, led by Strauss, that indicated the visitors weren’t going to back down from a huge challenge. As a fellow opener, Trescothick understands the mindset needed to overcome huge deficits and believes it’s the strong back-room set-up within the squad that enable the openers to play the way they did.”The vital thing is how solid the team is,” Trescothick said. “If you have that grounding in the dressing room then you can go out and try to be positive. You can’t die a death and end up not scoring runs because you have to get ahead of the other team. When the bad balls come you have to put them away and attack certain bowlers. Eventually you are going to lose wickets, but that’s what didn’t happen this time.”The build-up to the opening Test centred on Australia’s strong record at the Gabba and, although they remain unbeaten since 1988, the nature of England’s great escape means they head into the second Test buoyed while it’s the hosts under pressure. In 2002-03, Trescothick was part of an England team hammered by 384 runs in Brisbane and, despite the best efforts of Michael Vaughan who scored 633 runs in the series, they never recovered and lost 4-1. Now, having departed Queensland unscathed, Trescothick believes England have secured a vital advantage.”It was a great achievement. Our history at the Gabba wasn’t very good,” he said. “Generally if you get 500 you are losing at least half the side so to get it for just one down was a fantastic effort. It was a great achievement, and to bounce back as well from being 200 behind is a great effort.”The pitch was certainly different to before but the team is in such better shape. We know the team we want to play, the batters are getting runs and the bowlers doing OK. But I think we can produce even better results and going into the second Test we often get better as a series goes on.”Marcus Trescothick was speaking at his new signing with Mongoose Cricket www.mongoosecricket.com

Plays of the Day from the third day of the second Ashes Test at Adelaide

Andrew Miller and Peter English at Adelaide05-Dec-2010Cathartic single

There was a sense of inevitability about Kevin Pietersen’s century. Twenty-one months may have elapsed since he last reached the milestone at Trinidad in March 2009, but from the moment he resumed on 85 not out overnight, there was not a spectator in the whole of Adelaide who believed he’d throw it away. Sure enough, in the fifth over of the day, he patted Ryan Harris into the leg-side, and completed his milestone with an ecstatic leap to the non-striker’s end. From there he settled into a more restrained jog, as he peeled off his helmet and waved to all corners with a broad grin tinged with more than a hint of relief. He was back, but after waiting this long, he was far from finished.The Ego has relanded

One-hundred-and-twenty balls later, however, Pietersen’s reaction was joy unconfined. Having gone to tea on a familiar score of 158 – the total for which he had been dismissed three times in Tests already, including here in 2006-07 and at The Oval in 2005 – he eased past that bogey-number and sprinted for the hills. Xavier Doherty was powerless to intervene, and it was his delivery that was pushed wide of cover for Pietersen to charge through to his second Test double-century. This time there was no restraint. He ran a full 20 metres past the stumps at the non-striker’s end, dropped to his knee in a body-builder’s fist-pump, and lapped up the acclaim like a man who once again believed he was his destiny to dominate all opponents.Over of the day

Ryan Harris has been Australia’s best bowler of the game, which isn’t saying a huge amount. But he delivered a fierce over to Pietersen and Cook in the opening session when Australia were desperate for a wicket. After forcing Pietersen to hop away from a searing bouncer, Harris followed up with another spot-on short ball, which the batsman pulled short of the man at deep square leg. That left Cook on strike and later in the over he inside-edged to Brad Haddin, who leapt for a fine one-handed take.He’s out

If Australia’s afternoon papers had not died a death in the 1970s, those three words splashed across the city’s newsstands would have sufficed to describe the sense of disbelief that greeted the end of Cook’s vigil, just as they were once used to tell of Don Bradman’s dismissals. He was into his 19th straight hour of batting since the third day at Brisbane and his 24th in all for the series, when he finally made his misjudgement, with exactly 450 runs to his series tally. The crowd rose in unison to acclaim a monumental feat of endurance, but with Pietersen into his stride, Australia did not believe that their suffering was over.Pulling power

Shortly after Pietersen brought up his century, the Australians tried bouncing him through Peter Siddle. Three men were set back on the fence – at fine leg, behind square, and in front of square – and Siddle aimed short. Pietersen was in such good touch that the threats didn’t concern him. He hooked one so well that Xavier Doherty didn’t see it at backward square, and he unleased a similar shot from the next ball. Doherty saw this one, but it didn’t matter. It raced over the rope and Pietersen powered to 120.Watson’s wicket

Referrals have been a feature of this game, along with lots of England runs and wickets, but there was no complaint from anyone when Paul Collingwood was lbw to Shane Watson. Somehow, Watson managed to get a ball to cut back on the flat surface, and it struck Collingwood right in front. In a period where batsmen are keen to make an instant t-sign for a review, Collingwood made a beeline for the dressing room.