Ashes T 1 Day 4 Tea: Australia Score Big, Nail The Openers

Australia did eventually halt the agony for England, but at a rather heavy cost at tea on day four of the first Ashes Test at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
Brad Haddin joined Marcus North for the day’s two centurions and both scoring their second Test centuries. It meant that England found themselves facing a situation where not a single one of their batsmen had scored a century while Australia had four Test centuries including that of Australian captain, Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich.
The 200 run partnership between Haddin and North only furthered Australia’s lead while leaving England feeling very vulnerable in the first Test of the important series.
When the declaration did eventually come with barely an hour left to tea, Australia were leading by 239 runs, having declared on a massive 674 for 6.
But England’s nightmare was far from over. England lost both their openers before the tea break, Alastair Cook to Mitchell Johnson and Ravi Bopara to Ben Hilfenhaus. While Johnson had Cook in no position to defend himself, Bopara’s lbw looked marginal. Either way, it meant England were going grim into tea at 20 for two and still four sessions remaining in the match.
But rain is threatening and there may only be a brief respite for the hosts.

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