Derided spinner wrecks Australia to put England in the driving seat

England 407 & 25-1 Australia 308

In comparison to the amazing cricket played on the first day of the second npower Test, a day in which England scored 407 in 79.2 frenetic overs, yesterday's fare was pretty serene. England's cricket was thorough and professional, and by the end of an enthralling day they had extended their lead to 124.

Shane Warne highlighted the fact that this match is far from over in the final over, when he castled Andrew Strauss with a stunning delivery which spun prodigiouslyand bowled him behind his legs, and Australia, who are a great team, will still believe they can win this crucial match.

Much will depend on how England's top order cope with the legendary leg-spinner and breaking the faith of a man with 594 Test wickets will take considerable skill and determination. Should England's batsmen achieve this goal, and set Australia a target in excess of 300, Vaughan's side would have a wonderful opportunity of drawing level in this five-Test series.

Ashley Giles, with 3 for 78, was the pick of England's bowlers but he was given excellent support by Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff who shared five wickets. Giles, because of his overreaction to criticism aimed at him at the conclusion of the first Test, placed himself under a lot of pressure before the match, but he proved his value to the team in the best possible way.

Giles may not believe it but his work for England in the last 18 months has won him great admiration and respect among those who have watched Vaughan's team grow in stature. He is not Shane Warne but yesterday he did the job England have come to expect from him. He tied up one end and allowed Vaughan to rotate his fast bowlers from the other.

Giles will have taken particular pleasure from this performance because John Buchanan, the Australian coach, had suggested that his batsmen were going to get after him. They tried, but on this occasion Giles' subtle variations were too good to hit.

Matthew Hoggard gave England the perfect start with his first ball of the day. On Wednesday Matthew Hayden spent 30 minutes on the pitch in bare feet and with his bat visualising how he would play in the match. Positive images would have been passing through his head and not the prospect of chipping the first delivery he faced straight to Andrew Strauss at short extra cover.

Ricky Ponting looked in stunning form during his 87-minute stay. His driving down the ground was glorious and he looked determined to amend his decision at the toss on Thursday. Simon Jones was struck for three fours in an over and this forced Vaughan to introduce Giles into the attack after 15 overs.

The England captain's decision was bold but shrewd and it brought immediate reward. Ponting struck Giles for a boundary in each of his opening two overs but with the fifth ball of his third he got his man. It was not a particularly dangerous delivery, and Ponting was not attempting to hit it out of Edgbaston, but the Australian captain failed to control his paddled sweep and the ball lobbed up to Vaughan at short fine leg.

England's reaction to the dismissal highlighted what a close unit they have become. Through over-reacting to criticism at the conclusion of the first Test Giles placed himself under enormous pressure before the start of the match. Team-mates would have been aware of his position and their delight in watching him take a wicket was clear to see.

England's players swamped Giles when Vaughan took the catch, and at the end of the over eight of them went over to congratulate, and further encourage, one of the most popular members of the team.

Flintoff, roaring in from the City End, was getting far more out of the pitch than any of Australia's bowlers on the first day. His brutal approach to bowling - hit the pitch hard and see what happens approach - made Damien Martyn's brief stay pretty uncomfortable. The elegant right-hander played a couple of exquisite strokes before setting off for a quick single in the final over before lunch. Vaughan's fielding is in many ways like his batting. At times brilliant, at times awful. When Martyn left his crease he would have thought that Langer, if anybody, was running to the danger end. But Vaughan swooped like a swallow, picked the ball up with his right hand and somehow threw down the stumps at the bowler's end.

The England captain knew Martyn was out of his ground and the third umpire confirmed it after looking at a television replay.

Michael Clarke, with memories of a sparkling 91 at Lord's still fresh in his mind, took 10 runs off the first six balls he faced after the interval. The 24-year-old looked set for another significant score before he edged a simple catch to Geraint Jones.

Simon Katich quickly followed when he nibbled at a Flintoff delivery and edged a catch to Geraint Jones. This left England one wicket away from Australia's tail. But the wicket they needed was that of Adam Gilchrist or the nuggety Langer.

Simon Jones made the breakthrough when he reverse swung a fullish delivery into Langer's pads. The left-hander looked unhappy with the decision but it would have gone on to strike leg stump.

On previous occasions Australia's tail have allowed Gilchrist to achieve great deeds but this time they let him down. Warne was out slogging, Brett Lee edged a catch to second slip and Flintoff trapped Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz in front with consecutive deliveries leaving Gilchrist frustrated and unbeaten on 49.

Edgbaston scoreboard

Second day; Australia won toss

England - First Innings 407 (M E Trescothick 90, K P Pietersen 71, A Flintoff 68; S K Warne 4-116).

Australia - First Innings

J L Langer lbw b S Jones 82

276 min, 154 balls, 7 fours

M L Hayden c Strauss b Hoggard 0

6 min, 1 ball

*R T Ponting c Vaughan b Giles 61

86 min, 76 balls, 12 fours, 1 five

D R Martyn run out (Vaughan) 20

22 min, 18 balls, 4 fours

M J Clarke c G Jones b Giles 40

85 min, 68 balls, 7 fours

S M Katich c G Jones b Flintoff 4

22 min, 18 balls, 1 four

ÝA C Gilchrist not out 49

120 min, 69 balls, 4 fours, 1 five

S K Warne b Giles 8

14 min, 14 balls, 2 fours

B Lee c Flintoff b S Jones 6

14 min, 10 balls, 1 four

J N Gillespie lbw b Flintoff 7

36 min, 37 balls, 1 four

M S Kasprowicz lbw b Flintoff 0

1 min, 1 ball

Extras (b13 lb7 w1 nb10) 31

Total (346 min, 76overs) 308

Fall: 1-0 (Hayden) 2-88 (Ponting) 3-118 (Martyn) 4-194 (Clarke) 5-208 (Katich) 6-262 (Langer) 7-273 (Warne) 8-282 (Lee) 9-308 (Gillespie) 10-308 (Kasprowicz).

Bowling: Harmison 11-1-48-0 (nb1) (7-1-35-0, 4-0-13-0); Hoggard 8-0-41-1 (nb5) (4-0-26-1, 4-0-15-0); S Jones 16-2-69-2 (nb1 w1) (3-2-13-0, 6-0-29-0, 7-0-27-2); Flintoff 15-1-52-3 (nb3) (6-1-20-0, 7-0-29-1, 2-0-3-2); Giles 26-2-78-3 (5-0-20-1, 21-2-58-2).

Progress: Second day: 50: 44 min, 8.4 overs. 100: 10 5 min, 22.1 overs. Lunch: 118-3 (Langer 27) 24.5 overs. 150: 152 min, 32.5 overs. 200: 214 min, 47 overs. Tea: 219-5 (Langer 72, Gilchrist 5) 53 overs. 250: 265 min, 59 overs. 300: 333 min, 73.1 overs. Innings closed: 5.16pm.

Langer's 50: 172 min, 94 balls, 4 fours. Ponting's 50: 68 min, 51 balls, 10 fours, 1 five.

England - Second Innings

M E Trescothick not out 19

34 min, 26 balls, 4 fours

A J Strauss b Warne 6

29 min, 12 balls, 1 four

M J Hoggard not out 0

4 min, 4 balls

Total (for 1, 34 min, 7 overs) 25

Fall: 1-25 (Strauss).

To bat: *M P Vaughan, I R Bell, K P Pietersen, A Flintoff, ÝG O Jones, A F Giles, S J Harmison, S P Jones.

Bowling: Lee 3-0-13-0; Gillespie 2-0-7-0; Kasprowicz 1-0-5-0; Warne 1-1-0-1 (one spell each).

Umpires: B F Bowden (NZ) and R E Koertzen (SA).

TV replay umpires: J W Lloyds.

Match referee: R D Madugalle.