England survived a dropped catch off the last ball of the match to earn a draw against Australia at Sophia Gardens.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. They made it to 214-3 before collapsing to 264 all out. Justin Langer was out for 95 and Ricky Ponting 89 as Simon Jones took 6 for 70 with a brilliant exhibition of reverse swing bowling at pace.
England made better use of the conditions and were all out for 321, taking a lead of 57. Marcus Trescothick also failed to make 3 figures, falling 2 short with Legspinner Stuart MacGill taking 5 for 89.
Although the wicket was expected to deteriorate, the Australians batted superbly second time around and made 451. Matthew Hayden scored 109 while Ponting failed to hit a century for a 2nd time, making 98.
England needed 395 to win and they started well with Strauss making 46. They were 160 for 5 however, when Kevin Pietersen was joined by Andrew Flintoff. The pair added 83 and there seemed like a possibility of a shock while together. Flintoff fell for 43 however, and then the Australians pushed for victory. Pietersen batted well, hitting 113 before falling to MacGill and England were forced to try and bat for a draw. England batted out another 22 overs and thought they had saved the game. There was then some late drama as Monty Panesar flicked at a short ball down the legside off Shane Watson. Adam Gilchrist almost pulled off a brilliant diving catch but couldn't hold on and England had escaped with a draw.
Ricky Ponting was deserved man of the match for two fine innings that should have seen his team to victory.
Australia 2000s: J Langer; ML Hayden; RT Ponting [c]; SM Katich; A Symonds; AC Gilchrist [w]; SR Watson; B Lee; JN Gillespie; GD McGrath; SCG MacGill
England 2000s: ME Trescothick; AJ Strauss; MP Vaughan [c]; KP Pietersen; PD Collingwood; A Flintoff; GO Jones [w]; MJ Hoggard; SP Jones; AF Giles; MS Panesar
Australia 2000s 1st Innings 264-10 (82.3 Ov)
J Langer 95, RT Ponting 89, SM Katich 27, SP Jones 6-70, MJ Hoggard 2-30, MS Panesar 2-59
England 2000s 1st Innings 321-10 (98 Ov)
ME Trescothick 98, AJ Strauss 61, MP Vaughan 56, SCG MacGill 5-89, GD McGrath 2-92
Australia 2000s 2nd Innings 451-10 (128.1 Ov)
ML Hayden 109, RT Ponting 98, A Symonds 68, A Flintoff 3-111, MJ Hoggard 2-59, AF Giles 2-80
England 2000s 2nd Innings 340-9 (121 Ov)
KP Pietersen 113, AJ Strauss 46, A Flintoff 43, JN Gillespie 3-73, GD McGrath 2-51, SCG MacGill 2-94
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: RT Ponting
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