Fired-up Lee blows away England
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Brett Lee's post-Ashes point-proving reached new heights at Lord's with an outstanding display of seriously quick bowling as he took 5 for 49 to blow England away for 220 with 3.4 overs unused. In a pattern that has become eerily predictable, Andrew Strauss shone at the top with a neat 63, but once again his colleagues couldn't follow suit. Lee was just too quick for four batsmen as he demolished the stumps with searing yorkers to complete the ninth five-wicket haul of his career, according to website cricinfo.
Despite the loss of Strauss and a slowing of the scoring - largely due to an impressive spell from Nathan Hauritz who claimed 2 for 23 in his 10 - England had been handily placed on 146 for 3 when Lee returned for a one-over spell before the ball was changed. His first delivery was a pinpoint yorker that was too much for Matt Prior and from there the innings nose-dived. However, it was Lee's last spell that was the most destructive as England's last five wickets fell for 20.
It was thrilling to watch Lee in full flow, something missing from the Ashes series, as he uprooted the stumps of Prior, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid. The latter trio came during the batting Powerplay as Lee claimed three wickets in nine balls. England's frustrations nearly boiled over when Owais Shah swung a full toss from Shane Watson to midwicket and stood his ground, believing the ball had been above waist height. Replays showed it was marginal, but England are far from a happy bunch.
The pattern of England's efforts in this series has been uncanny - and not in a good way. Strauss dominated the scoring at The Rose Bowl, before he fell for 63 off 72 balls, and it was an almost identical situation here as he reached a 48-ball half-century having won his fourth toss of the series. However, with Hauritz doing an impressive job in stifling the scoring rate - he had already removed Ravi Bopara - Strauss felt the need to try and increase the tempo, but only managed a thick outside edge to short third man when England needed him to stay and score a hundred.
Strauss opened the innings alongside a new partner with Joe Denly returning to the team after recovering from his knee injury. He didn't last long, though, as Lee struck in the fifth over when Denly edged to slip, but at the other end Strauss, as he has done throughout the summer, looked in complete control. He took three fours in four balls off a wayward Nathan Bracken and had just one awkward moment against Lee, when he got into a tangle against a short ball and gloved the delivery just wide of a diving Tim Paine.
England innings:
AJ Strauss c Bracken b Hauritz 63
JL Denly c White b Lee 11
RS Bopara lbw b Hauritz 26
MJ Prior b Lee 29
OA Shah c Ferguson b Watson 39
EJG Morgan st Paine b Bracken 13
LJ Wright b Lee 12
SCJ Broad b Lee 2
AU Rashid b Lee 4
TT Bresnan not out 11
RJ Sidebottom b Johnson 2
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 2, nb 4) 8
Total: (all out; 46.3 overs) 220
Despite the loss of Strauss and a slowing of the scoring - largely due to an impressive spell from Nathan Hauritz who claimed 2 for 23 in his 10 - England had been handily placed on 146 for 3 when Lee returned for a one-over spell before the ball was changed. His first delivery was a pinpoint yorker that was too much for Matt Prior and from there the innings nose-dived. However, it was Lee's last spell that was the most destructive as England's last five wickets fell for 20.
It was thrilling to watch Lee in full flow, something missing from the Ashes series, as he uprooted the stumps of Prior, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid. The latter trio came during the batting Powerplay as Lee claimed three wickets in nine balls. England's frustrations nearly boiled over when Owais Shah swung a full toss from Shane Watson to midwicket and stood his ground, believing the ball had been above waist height. Replays showed it was marginal, but England are far from a happy bunch.
The pattern of England's efforts in this series has been uncanny - and not in a good way. Strauss dominated the scoring at The Rose Bowl, before he fell for 63 off 72 balls, and it was an almost identical situation here as he reached a 48-ball half-century having won his fourth toss of the series. However, with Hauritz doing an impressive job in stifling the scoring rate - he had already removed Ravi Bopara - Strauss felt the need to try and increase the tempo, but only managed a thick outside edge to short third man when England needed him to stay and score a hundred.
Strauss opened the innings alongside a new partner with Joe Denly returning to the team after recovering from his knee injury. He didn't last long, though, as Lee struck in the fifth over when Denly edged to slip, but at the other end Strauss, as he has done throughout the summer, looked in complete control. He took three fours in four balls off a wayward Nathan Bracken and had just one awkward moment against Lee, when he got into a tangle against a short ball and gloved the delivery just wide of a diving Tim Paine.
England innings:
AJ Strauss c Bracken b Hauritz 63
JL Denly c White b Lee 11
RS Bopara lbw b Hauritz 26
MJ Prior b Lee 29
OA Shah c Ferguson b Watson 39
EJG Morgan st Paine b Bracken 13
LJ Wright b Lee 12
SCJ Broad b Lee 2
AU Rashid b Lee 4
TT Bresnan not out 11
RJ Sidebottom b Johnson 2
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 2, nb 4) 8
Total: (all out; 46.3 overs) 220