Draw satisfies Australia

Sportal - July 5, 2009, 6:35 am

Australia will head into the first Test starting on Wednesday satisfied with its preparation despite its tour match with the England Lions petering into a tame draw at Worcester on Saturday night.

The Australians were six wickets short of victory when stumps were drawn just under an hour early with the Lions on 4-162, still 283 runs adrift of the tourists' massive target of 445.

There was a dramatic finale to the match when umpire Jeff Evans collapsed. He received attention from paramedics but managed to walk off the field.

A draw seemed the most likely result after Australia did not declare its innings until the luncheon interval, leaving it with only 60 overs to dismiss the Lions.

Led by an unbeaten 191 from Marcus North, the Australians crashed a weary Lions attack for 162 runs in the first session.

The closest Australia came to triggering a collapse with the ball came when Brett Lee bowled Vikram Solanki neck and crop, reducing the hosts to 4-115 with more than 27 overs remaining.

But on a wicket offering little assistance to the pacemen, the Lions pair of Eoin Morgan and Steve Davies kept Australia at bay.

"I have been really happy with the way that things have gone," said captain Ricky Ponting.

"We went out of the T20s a bit earlier than expected so we have had a really long run into the Tests and I know all the guys are really keen for the Test matches to roll on."

"And it now seems like an eternity heading into this Test match but our preparation has been spot on."

Coach Tim Nielsen said the side had been lucky not to have any training sessions or match time lost to rain.

"I'm really pleased with the way it worked out, it was a really flat track for the bowlers and the batsmen got some good time," he said.

"(We've) been able to up the tempo all the way through and aim for Wednesday."

Pacemen Mitchell Johnson improved on his inauspicious performance in the first innings, taking the wickets of openers Joe Denly and Stephen Moore with the new ball.

Although he conceded more than five an over, Johnson bowled with more rhythm and good pace on the final day.

Nathan Hauritz, who was introduced into the attack behind part-timer Marcus North, was another improver, claiming the figures of 1-22 from 12.2 overs.

He removed Ian Bell, who was well caught at short leg by Simon Katich for 20 after playing back to one he would now rather he came forward to.

Encouragingly for the spinner, he managed to extract some bite out of the footmarks and was not dictated to by the batsmen though to say he provided a constant menace would be an exaggeration.

Solanki drove at a well-pitched up ball from Lee which thundered between a gaping hole between bat and pad.

Lee again failed to strike with the new ball, though bowled only three overs in his initial spell before being replaced by Stuart Clark, who was miserly but also wicketless.

Earlier, North and Michael Hussey feasted on the spin of Adil Rashid and part-timers Denly and Solanki.

Hussey retired hurt on 62 to seek treatment after being struck on his left ankle during the warm-up but is not considered in doubt for the first Test.

Australia 1st innings 358*

England Lions 1st innings 352*

Australia 2nd innings* Hughes c Morgan b Harmison 8 Katich c Moore b Rashid 37 Ponting c Rashid b Harmison 15 North not out 191 Clarke c Onions b Solanki 80 Hussey retired hurt 62 Haddin not out 25 Extras: 20 (11b, 8lb, 1nb) *Total: 438 (4 wickets declared, 103 overs)*

FOW: 1-17, 2-41, 3-90, 4-260

Bowling* Onions 19 - 2 - 73 - 0 Harmison 17 - 3 - 55 - 2 Mahmood 18 - 2 - 56 - 0 (1nb) Bresnan 18 - 5 - 60 - 0 Rashid 22 - 2 - 109 - 1 Solanki 5 - 0 - 32 - 1 Denly 4 - 0 - 33 - 0

England Lions 2nd innings* Denly c Haddin b Johnson 36 Moore c Ponting b Johnson 16 Bell c Katich b Hauritz 20 Solanki b Lee 28 Morgan not out 28 Davies not out 18 Extras: 16 (4b, 11lb, 1nb) *Total: 162 (4 wickets, 47.2 overs)*

FOW: 1-29, 2-62, 3-105, 4-115