England v Australian Lord's 2nd Test match 19,20,21,22,23 July 2001 (5-day match)

Result: Australia won by 8 wickets -

Umpires : SA Bucknor (WI) and JW Holder

Match Reports : Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4; Day 5

Toss: Australia (elected to field)

Second Day Report :

Glenn McGrath wasted no time in asserting his superiority on England on the second day of the second Npower test match at Lord's when he took 3 wickets in the first hour's play.

With only five runs added to the overnight score, Alec Stewart was McGrath's first victim when he was caught behind by Gilchrist without scoring, and in the 10 balls he faced he looked very uneasy, not at all the confident Stewart we normally see at the
crease.

Following on from his superb bowling performance last night, McGrath was truly at his best this morning mixing his deliveries to suit the occasion. The sun was out early on and the day looked nothing like yesterday's gloomy picture and a full day's play is expected.

With five wickets down and only 126 on the board, England were looking at an uphill task and any hopes of posting a 200 plus total were dealt a sever blow when Thorpe was the next wicket to go. With only 3 runs added to the total, the same pair joined
forces to dismiss the England player, Thorpe edging another great delivery from McGrath to Adam Gilchrist behind the stumps who used all of his height to take the ball in his gloves. Thorpe had looked good and comfortable at the crease considering his six week
absence from any cricket.

Craig White was the next to go four overs later when he hit the ball straight to Matthew Hayden at gully for the second duck of the morning and due to tight bowling from the quickies, only two runs had been added for the third wicket of the day, The first 3 wickets of the morning session had now fallen for 10 runs off only 7 overs and Australia clearly in charge. With White's wicket, McGrath had taken five wickets in an innings for the 19th time in Tests, a remarkable performance.

Dizzy Gillespie joined in the fun and sent Dominic Cork back to the pavilion after an aggressive knock by the all rounder when Ponting superbly caught him. His knock had included 3 fours and a huge six of Glenn McGrath when he edged a short-pitched delivery
over Gilchrist. Cork and Ward looked settled and had helped England take the score towards the 200 mark, although Cork had looked as if he could fall at any time during his brief innings.

Shane Warne was brought on after three expensive overs from the quickies and immediately set about attacking the batsmen and in his few overs; he bowled a variety of deliveries including the slider, googly and flipper. The final two wickets to fall were Caddick
and Gough, both bowled by the spin master in successive overs and both falling on the third ball of his overs. England were all out for 187, Ward the batsman left standing on 23 not out off 67 deliveries. With the sun beating down and the wicket playing well, Australia
will now look to force the game and put it out of England's reach.

England in reply started well enough with Andy Caddick striking on the fifth ball of his first over. Hayden was the man to go without scoring and the total on five, Butcher taking the catch at second slip to dismiss the opener. Ponting then came in and hit 3 quick
boundaries in his short innings of 14, the score advancing to 27 before Darren Gough the fiery Yorkshireman, had him caught by Thorpe at slip on a ball that got up at Ponting causing him to edge the ball to the Surrey man.

Mark Waugh and Michael Slater calmed the Australian nerves and began eating into the England total of 187. It wasn't Slater's best knock to be honest; he lacked the fluency of his blistering innings at Edgbaston, only occasionally showing his brilliance at the crease. The pair added 78 runs before Andy Caddick was re introduced into the attack just before tea and it soon paid dividends when he had Slater attempting a pull shot, caught behind for 25.

Mark Waugh reached his hundred this afternoon after an effortless innings of controlled aggressive and stylish shots. Waugh's hundred, his first at Lord's, marked a recovery for Australia, and together with his brother Steve he put on 107 for the fourth wicket. It was a great achievement for Waugh after he came so close to the mark back in 1993 when Phil Tufnell bowled him on 99. His 19th Test century came in 3 ¾ hours, 165 balls and 14 fours.

Mark was the first of the twins to go, run out after Darren Gough fielding at mid on, hit the stumps with a direct hit, a superb throw as Gough only had one stump to aim at. He walked back to a generous ovation from the Lord's crowd in the knowledge that he had
finally made it at the home of cricket.

Waugh senior was the final wicket to fall today. Sitting comfortably on 45, he fended a delivery from Cork down the leg side and Stewart took a fine catch moving swiftly to his left side. It was a great catch from the veteran wicketkeeper.

The wicket prompted a tense finish, the English bowlers trying everything to make further inroads into the Australian middle order; but Martyn and Gilchrist held steady and survived the last 11 overs of the day without too much difficulty.

With 5 wickets standing in their first innings, Australia ended the day with a comfortable lead of 68 over England. They will look to push home their advantage in the morning and we will no doubt see a more aggressive approach from the Aussie batsmen when they
return to the middle tomorrow morning. How different it could have been if the Australian's had lost another wicket in the closing overs.

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