Ashes Third Test 2009, The

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Play began at 17:00 after a long rain delay. At the start of the day Shane Watson, put on 85 runs for the first wicket with Simon Katich before Katich was trapped LBW in Graeme Swann's first over.Australia finished the day at 126/1.

England started in fine form as Graham Onions removed Shane Watson and Michael Hussey with the first two balls of the day, before taking the wicket of Ponting soon after. The Australians added another 30 runs before James Anderson took the next wicket, sparking a sequence of four Anderson wickets in four overs for just 10 runs. Anderson and Onions shared the last two wickets between them as Nathan Hauritz and Ben Hilfenhaus put on 34 for the tenth wicket. England opened their innings, but they had to face the same batting conditions as the Australians had, and Alastair Cook was out for a duck in the second over. Ravi Bopara was the next to fall as he continued his poor run of form and put on just 23 runs. Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell continued to take England into the third day at 116/2.

Day 3 abandoned due to rain.

The fourth day began with a delay for rain. Strauss was caught by Graham Manou off Hilfenhaus. Collingwood was next to fall to Hilfenhaus, caught by Ponting with the last ball before lunch. Bell reached his half-century after lunch, but was trapped LBW by Johnson five overs later. Matt Prior and Andrew Flintoff then developed a strong partnership, putting on 89 runs for the sixth wicket. Flintoff and Stuart Broad then combined for another 52 runs before Flintoff was caught out by a Nathan Hauritz ball that caught him on the glove. The last three wickets went for 66 runs, with Broad top-scoring with 55 to take England to 376 all out, 113 runs ahead of the Aussies. The Australian innings began well, with the openers putting on 47 runs before two quick wickets fell to Onions and Swann in consecutive overs; Katich edged Onions to Prior, and then Swann tormented Ponting before clean-bowling him with the last ball of his over. The day ended with Australia on 88/2.

The final day was the only day on which play began on schedule. Victory was a possibility for both sides, but England's 25-run lead gave them an advantage. Australia drew level in the 10th over of the day, with both batsmen heading towards half-centuries. Watson was the first to reach 50, but was out off his next ball, edging the last ball of Anderson's first over of the day to Prior. Hussey was next to reach 50; however, he only put on 14 more before himself edging to Prior off Broad, in only Broad's second over of the innings. Australia's fifth-wicket partnership proved largely impenetrable for the remainder of the day, as Clarke and North pushed towards centuries and Australia towards a 200-run lead in the evening session. North on 96 mis-timed a drive that Anderson caught spectacularly at gully. Clarke took another eight overs to reach his century with a four off Bopara, at which the 2 captains agreed to end the match as a draw.

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