Paul Collingwood hit a valiant 74 and England's last-wicket pair defied Australia for 40 minutes to clinch a draw in the first Ashes Test. England, 20-2 overnight, lost three further wickets inside 90 minutes but somehow clung on in the final stages.
Collingwood's innings lasted 245 balls - five hours and 43 minutes in all. Then, amid scenes of high tension, with every dot ball roared by a capacity crowd, James Anderson and Monty Panesar kept Australia's spinners at bay.
Collingwood's was a display of grisly determination, which put the efforts of other players in the top order sharply into perspective.
But with 50 minutes to go in the match, and England still a tantalising six runs away from making Australia bat again, the Durham man played probably his first risky shot. Attempting to steer Peter Siddle wide of point for four he instead hit the ball high to the fielder. Michael Hussey parried a catch above his head, before taking it - agonisingly - at the second opportunity.
It seemed now, with Panesar coming out to join Anderson, that England would lose in heart-breaking fashion. But the last man refused to be an easy target, and when Anderson squirted Siddle down to third man for four, England had a precious lead. Significantly, that meant England did not have to bat until the 1850 BST cut-off. They just had to get past 1840, which meant facing around three overs fewer. (Daily Mail)
