Now he unleashed numerous searing deliveries during a superbly sustained effort that deserved more wickets than the cricketing gods bestowed upon it.Flintoff's first scalp was memorable. As he walked back to the pavilion, Ponting must have wondered how he touched a swift leg-cutter that reared past his chest as it sped towards the World's bemused stumper Had his form been poor he would have missed it by a foot Such are the joys of the game. Harmison continued to probe genially but it took the appearance of another Englishman to widen the breach. Andrew Flintoff had bowled splendidly on the second morning, swinging the ball late and with pace.
Ponting was advancing forcefully in the manner of a man who has belatedly turned his back upon suburban sophistication. Now that Ponting has restored instinct, his captaincy will improve by leaps and bounds. The rush to appoint Shane Warne will fade.None of the bowlers had made much of an impression and the pitch looked as flat as rolled dough. Then Steve Harmison changed the mood with a slower ball to put beside the beauty he produced to remove Michael Clarke in Birmingham. In a trice the visitors had gained entry into the home side's shaky middle-order.Clarke himself was promptly confounded by a fast off-cutter that beat him as much for pace as movement He is a delightful player whose game currently lacks rigour.
Until those wickets were lost in the gloaming, the World had fought back impressively. Certainly, the bowling was terrific. An enormous total seemed inevitable as Australia reached 152 for 1 with Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting in full flow. Hayden had batted in his new, measured style and was moving massively towards a third century in four Test innings, his brief appearance on the final afternoon in Kennington spoiling his run. On the dark side, spectators charged a mint to enter the ground were not allowed to watch the replays shown to the third umpire and were also ill-served as the ?te of the game left the field whenever the light deteriorated. Not that Graeme Smith and Virender Sehwag would have agreed as they traipsed from the field in the gloomiest conditions of a curtailed day. Throughout, the exchanges were fascinating as the visiting bowlers roused themselves into an impressive effort that brought nine wickets for 47 runs, to leave the World XI pursuing a target of 355 to cause an upset, 79 more than has ever been obtained on this ground in Test cricket.