England on top after first two sessions - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

England on top after first two sessions

By Adam Cooper 22/07/2005 12:31:57 AM Comments (0)

Steve Harmison became Australia's nightmare on day one of the first cricket Test at Lord's as England bowled the world champions out for 190 inside two sessions.

Harmison felled Australian captain Ricky Ponting with a brutal bouncer before lunch and then took 5-43 to give first-round honours to England in cricket's heavyweight clash.

At tea, England openers Marcus Trescothick (four not out) and Andrew Strauss (two not out) had taken their side to 0-10 in reply.

Harmison, whose previous four Tests against Australia had yielded just nine wickets and erratic spells, bowled beautifully in his first spell of the day and then just as well after lunch to claim the sixth five-wicket haul of his career, and first against Australia.

Australia's batsmen struggled with the bounce Harmison and his colleagues generated, as Ponting and Damien Martyn were caught playing away from their bodies and Justin Langer and Simon Katich were out to skied pull shots.

Harmison struck Australia's top three batsmen with blows to the body in the first hour and the way he caught Ponting off guard with a frightening bouncer resonated through the Australian innings.

Ponting needed stitches after a Harmison bouncer thundered into the grill of his helmet and pushed it into his right cheekbone.

Australia, which went into the match a warm favourite, lasted just 41.2 overs after winning the toss and batting and after recovering from 6-126, lost its last four wickets for 15 runs.

Harmison took 4-7 in 14 deliveries and earned a standing ovation from the sell-out Lord's crowd as he walked off.

Langer top-scored with 40, while Gilchrist (26), Shane Warne (28) and Katich (27) all got starts but could not bat long enough to steer their side out of trouble.

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