THE ASHES 4TH TEST - DAY TWO REPORT

(karthik Narayan)

If bowling is Australia’s strength, so is batting! It was a gift of God that these natural athletes are born winners in any sport (except maybe football and table tennis).

Hayden came out of his lean patch (he showed a minor recovery of form in the previous test) and scored a brilliant ton (153) in the company of Symonds (156) and together they put on a mammoth partnership for the 6th wkt – shook England from what they thought was trouble for Australia (84/5 was a bit interesting, but these two broke that flow of wickets).

Hayden has completed 27 test centuries now in such a short span of time that he looks a force to reckon with in the test arena. Slowly but surely the big man has silently made his presence felt. Ricky Ponting just got beyond Steve Waugh, but Hayden is fast catching up!!

Day two at stumps: Aus 372/7