Cook revives England

January 04, 2011 09:23 am | Updated 08:16 pm IST - SYDNEY

England's Alastair Cook struck an unbeaten half-century during the second day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney on Tuesday.

England's Alastair Cook struck an unbeaten half-century during the second day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney on Tuesday.

Alastair Cook continued his series domination of the Australian bowlers, scoring an unbeaten 61 on Tuesday and sharing important partnerships with Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen as England cut the first innings deficit to 113 runs on day two of the fifth Ashes Test.

Cook played the anchor role in a 98-run opening stand with skipper Strauss, who blazed 60 from 58 balls, and then combined with No. 4 Pietersen (36) for 66 runs after England lost two wickets for one run before recovering to 167-3 at stumps in reply to Australia’s 280.

Johnson, who top-scored for Australia with 53 and shared a defiant 76-run stand with No. 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, removed Jonathan Trott and Pietersen to return figures of 2-42 in 12 overs.

Night watchman Jimmy Anderson survived 20 minutes and was unbeaten on one at stumps. Jimmy Anderson, who earlier led the England attack with 4-66, said Australia’s rearguard stand was frustrating but had been countered by Strauss and Cook.

“The momentum had swung towards Australia at the end of their innings and Strauss and Cook got that back for us,” Anderson said. “It’s pretty evens-stevens, it’s slightly in our favour, it’s a real tough one to call.

“We have to really dig in tomorrow morning and hopefully we can get up towards them and then get a decent lead.”

Cook, who is chasing his third century of the series and has already scored almost 640 runs, got a lucky reprieve on 46 when he miscued a catch to mid-on that appeared to give rookie left-arm spinner Michael Beer his first Test wicket. But umpire Billy Bowden suspected it was a no-ball and referred the decision to the third umpire, who reviewed the video and confirmed Beer had overstepped.

Anderson said Cook’s response was a reflection of his cool approach in the series. “He’s been fantastic. Considering people were questioning his spot during the summer, he’s shown exactly what sort of player he is,” Anderson said. “He’s got huge character, huge talent and there were no doubts in our dressing room that he wasn’t going to perform when he came out here.”

Johnson said the decision was clearly disappointing for Beer in only his third over of Test cricket, but didn’t dispute the evidence. “I think he handled it very well in the end. It was disappointing for him that he didn’t get his first wicket - it would have been a good wicket to get too, being Cook,” Johnson said. “But the way he handled himself after that, and the way be bowled, were good signs for us. It looked he spun the ball and got a bit of drift.”

Johnson said the system for referring no-balls could be improved, suggesting England spinner Graeme Swann may have overstepped the crease at times as well, but the onus was on the bowlers not to overstep the mark.

“I guess it can be frustrating. If the umpires know it’s a no-ball, they should call it instead of waiting to call it,” he said. “Everyone is going to have different opinions on it.”

Earlier, Strauss raced to 50 with a slashing boundary wide of slips and was in fine touch with eight boundaries and a six before he was bowled by Hilfenhaus with a ball that pitched outside off stump and straightened.

England slipped to 99-2 next over when Trott played on to Johnson, falling for his first-ever duck in Test cricket. Pietersen, who was loudly booed as he walked to the crease, turned his first ball for four.

He then belted Beer’s first ball in Test cricket for a boundary and then almost played onto his stumps in a tempestuous innings before he was finally out attempting a hook against Johnson and directing it straight to Beer at deep backward square.

Australia resumed on Tuesday at 134-4 - in an extended first session after 31 overs were lost on day one due to rain and bad light - and was in danger of another sub-200 first innings at 8-189 before Johnson and Hilfenhaus combined for the best partnership of the innings.

Anderson finished off the tailend revival when Hilfenhaus swiped at a short-pitch ball and Matthew Prior took an acrobatic, leaping caught behind.

After losing four wickets for 46 runs, the last two Australian wickets added 91 runs to restore some hope for Australia, which is desperate to level the series at 2-2. Johnson dominated an entertaining partnership with Hilfenhaus before he was out for 53, bowled by a Tim Bresnan in-swinger.

The highlight was a three-ball sequence when the pair belted 16 runs, with Hilfenhaus driving Bresnan over the mid-wicket boundary on the last ball of one over and Johnson swiping Swann’s first two balls in the next over for four and six through the same area.

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