England win By 14 runs in first test

England 215 (Siddle 5-50) and 375 (Bell 109,
Broad 65, Pietersen 64, Cook 50) beat
Australia 280 (Agar 98, Hughes 81*, Smith 53,
Anderson 5-85) and 296 (Haddin 71, Rogers
52, Anderson 5-73) by 14 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
James Anderson led England to victory in the
first Investec Test as he took the last four
wickets to fall in a steadfast spell of fast
bowling on a nerve-shredding final day at
Trent Bridge. But Australia took some
silencing. A last-wicket stand of 65 between
Brad Haddin and James Pattinson took a
wonderful match, against expectations, into
the afternoon session before Anderson struck
for the final time.
Haddin's valiant innings, 71 from 147 balls,
deserved better than a dismissal by virtue of
DRS. But it was better than an umpire getting
it wrong; the system worked. Aleem Dar, the
on-field umpire, understandably did not spot
an inside edge about which only the
wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, seemed convinced
but England had two reviews in the tank and
replays clearly proved Haddin nicked it.
England raced into a jubilant huddle, a
capacity crowd cheered with delight and
Haddin, his helmet removed, looked pale with
exhaustion and regret.
The importance of Anderson to England was
doubly emphasised when he finally took a
break. At that stage, Australia still needed 64
but, with Anderson withdrawn, the last pair
immediately sensed they could hit their way to
victory. Haddin, strong on the slog-sweep, was
dropped at deep square leg by Steven Finn on
64, Graeme Swann's premature visions of
victory banished.
England were so shaken they ended the session
with a shameless display of timewasting -
Stuart Broad to the fore, under his captain's
instructions, with needless boot repairs. The
umpires made them have another over
anyway.
Much is made of Anderson's skill, but it was
his stamina that was also to the fore as he
produced a gruelling spell of 13 overs off the
reel and was then asked for 11 more deliveries
after lunch. Anderson was entrusted first with
the old ball, then dismissed Ashton Agar,
Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle with the new.
He has bowled 55.5 overs in the match, taking
ten for 158 in the process, and passed Fred
Trueman in England's all-time list during the
game.
Turn to your leading bowler when it most
matters. In relying upon Anderson, England's
captain, Alastair Cook, was returning to basic
principles, and aware also of his excellent
record at Trent Bridge but he would have had
a few qualms about giving Anderson such an
arduous spell with the Lord's Test only four
days away.
There is no doubt who is most invaluable to
England in this Ashes series. It is not Cook,
Jonathan Trott at his most unflappable or even
Swann, whose superior spin bowling gives
England an obvious advantage. It is Anderson.
All three pre-lunch wickets fell to catches by
Cook at first slip, as Anderson found away
swing from both around then over the wicket.
The best of them was a diving effort to his
right to dismiss Peter Siddle, atonement for
dropping Siddle in the same position in
Anderson's previous over. When you have set a
field with a solitary slip - generally justifiable
on this low pitch, but not necessarily when
Siddle was having a lash - it is advisable to
develop spring heels.
Trent Bridge has lapped up one of the great
Tests. It was sold out for all five days, and
with Australia, six down overnight, needing
another 137 to win, there was enough in the
game for the vast majority to turn up for the
final phase of a gripping Test.
There is more than one way to seek to turn a
Test that seems to be tipping against you. Agar,
with the eagerness we have already come to
expect, fancied scampering a single or two to
get the intensity up. The old timer, Haddin,
wanted to do nothing of the sort, preferring to
hunker in and communicate a sense that
Australia would not yield. Twice, Agar almost
ended up in mid-pitch, leaving his older - and
slower - partner to have a calming word.
The ball was 71 overs at start of play, the
floodlights broke through the morning haze
and a slow pitch was as inhibiting for the
batsmen as ever. Cook was satisfied enough to
watch Australia make painstaking progress, so
cautious that he even set a long-on and long-
off for Swann's offspin, but it was deadlock.
In 11 overs, Australia made 17. Haddin slog-
swept Swann for four, Agar, driving with big
backlift and loose limbs, deflected Anderson to
the third boundary. After 82 overs, Cook had
seen enough and took the new ball. But
Anderson, his go-to bowler, had already
bowled five overs with the old one. Finn had
become an option that Cook did not entirely
trust. Anderson faced a footslog.
If the harder ball did not swing, Australia had
an opportunity to step up the scoring rate for
more than an hour before lunch. Instead, with
the fifth over of the new ball - Anderson's
eighth of the morning - Agar fell to Anderson.
Agar prefers to stay leg-side of the ball, foot
not always to the pitch, to free up his off-side
drives; Anderson, shaping the ball away from
around the wicket, found the perfect retort
and Cook held the edge at first slip. His 14 had
taken 71 balls, in sharp contrast to his first-
innings spree, but it was not just the increased
pressure second time around, but could also
be put down to the debilitating nature of the
pitch.
Australia's lower order is no pushover: their
bottom three - Starc, Siddle, and Pattinson
share a combined Test average of 70. But
Anderson had not finished. Starc received
another excellent delivery which left him - this
time from over the wicket - and Cook again
held on.
With eight down, and 100 still needed, Siddle
decided that adventure was called for. Cook
missed an inviting opportunity to his left at
slip, but then caught a blinder in Anderson's
next over. At 240 for 9, Anderson finally had
to stand down.
With 70 needed, Haddin spotted his moment.
A concerted assault upon Finn, who has been
thoroughly out of sorts throughout this Test,
was Australia's last remaining hope. He took
15 off Finn's first over, passing 50 in the
process, crunching him over the leg-side on
three occasions. Finn looked bereft. Finn's
second over went for nine, including four
byes. Broad responded better.
England could afford one bowler to be broken;
they could not afford two. Pattinson slogged
Swann over midwicket for six as the last-
wicket stand reached 50. England turned to
Broad, but any longing to return to Anderson
had to wait when he tried to stretch and
limped off to the pavilion.
England then missed a run out with 28 needed,
Haddin and Pattinson caught in mid-pitch as
they became mixed-up over a leg-side single,
only for Jonny Bairstow's shy at the stumps at
the keeper's end to miss the target.
Finn allowed a challenging running catch to
slip through his hands at deep square-leg with
Haddin 64 and 26 needed. Watching from the
Australia dressing room, the coach, Darren
Lehmann played with a stress ball.
At lunch, a late lunch, too, this Test would just
not lie down. A lie down was probably just
what Anderson fancied. But he roused himself
for a final time and the faintest of nicks - seen
on Hot Spot, heard on audio, unofficially
spotted on Snicko and perhaps even suspected
by the batsman himself - put England 1-0 up
in the series.