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Rediff.com  » Sports » Panesar has Australia in a twirl

Panesar has Australia in a twirl

By Julian Linden
Last updated on: December 14, 2006 19:01 IST
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Monty Panesar captured five wickets on his Ashes debut to help England bowl out Australia for 244 before struggling to 51 for two on the opening day of the third Test on Thursday.

Panesar claimed the scalps of Justin Langer (37), Andrew Symonds (26), Adam Gilchrist (nought), Shane Warne (25) and Brett Lee (10) to finish with the impressive figures of five for 92 from 24 overs and become the first English spinner to claim five wickets in a Test innings at the WACA.

Strike bowler Steve Harmison also rediscovered his form to take four for 48, including the prize wickets of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, as England's bowlers enjoyed their best day of the series.

Australia picked up two early wickets in the final hour before the close.

Alastair Cook departed for 15 and Ian Bell for a second-ball duck, leaving Andrew Strauss (24 not out) and Paul Collingwood (10 not out) to battle through to stumps.

Australia are 2-0 up in the series.

The only Australian batsmen to make a significant score was left-hander Mike Hussey, who finished unbeaten on 74 after chalking up his fourth successive half-century of the series.

Hussey made 86 in Australia's 277-run victory in Brisbane and 91 and 61 not out in Adelaide. Another fine innings in Perth gave him 312 runs for the series at an average of 156.

Panesar was controversially overlooked for the first two Tests but was finally given his chance when the English selectors dropped the ineffective Ashley Giles. They also replaced seamer James Anderson with Sajid Mahmood.

Panesar's omission from the first two Tests appeared even more baffling when he claimed a wicket with his seventh delivery, bowling Langer with the last ball before lunch.

The left-arm spinner claimed a second scalp before tea when Symonds nicked a catch to wicketkeeper Geraint Jones and a third when Gilchrist was caught by a scrambling Bell at short leg for a duck.

Warne was also caught behind and Lee was trapped lbw, giving Panesar his third five-wicket haul in only his 11th Test and cementing his place in the team.

SHARP RETURN

Harmison, who had taken just one wicket in the series after erratic displays in Brisbane and Adelaide, rediscovered his line and length at the perfect time to trap Ponting lbw for two and held a return one-handed catch to remove Clarke for 37.

The tall fast bowler then polished off the tail by dismissing Clark and McGrath. The reliable Matthew Hoggard finished with one for 40 after making the initial breakthrough to remove Matthew Hayden for 24.

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Julian Linden
Source: REUTERS
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