England took the first innings lead

India
July 18, 2009 7:02am CST
in the second test of Ashes England took a first innings lead of 210 runs and that has definitely put the Aussies on the backfoot. After unable to win the first test, Ricky Ponting is going to be under deep pressure if Aussies lose this test match.
6 responses
@VisuUnome (208)
• India
18 Jul 09
i think that the england will win this match because they have lot of chance to win it..........
• Pakistan
18 Jul 09
England bowlers really bowled well in the 1st innings, especially the 4 wickets at the top by James Anderson. he bowled superbly and put pressure over the Australian top order. Australia would have been missing the likes of Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist. These are the kind of players who always counter attack in these sort of situations.. Anyways credit goes to England bowlers. I believe the opening spell of Andrew Flintoff was also important. he was tight, bowled fircely that helped Anderson to take few wickets from the other hand. The inclusion of Graham Onions has also been proved fruitful. Engalnd has a very good lead and a great chance to win the test match and put pressure over Australians so that we could see another great Ashes, like the one we had in 2005 :)
@harptech (144)
• India
18 Jul 09
Really wish that England win this match. Australia is a team who can bounce back from any kind of situation. Nevertheless congrats to English team for getting such a strong batting lineup cheaply. Anyway this is the chance and if England could win this match, it would boost their confidence a lot.
@abhi_bangal (3686)
• India
18 Jul 09
I think, they are right into the series. After saving the first Test with solid a batting display they are into it again. Having scored more than 400 runs and getting a lead of more than 200 runs - and that too against the Aussies is a really commendable effort from the Englishmen. I really and fully back them agaisnt the Australians. Because they - England - are the one who are playing in the right spirit of the game at the moment. With the skipper himself leading the way in both the innings, I think, it will be really bad on the Englishmen if they are going to lose from this healthy position. I think, they are really in a position to force a win as this is still the third day of the play.
• India
18 Jul 09
Ya, now that the England players have got for themselves a very commanding lead of above 200 runs, one thing they need to do is put their heads down and extend it to 500 or above as quickly as possible so that, they will have enough time to bowl out the Australian batting line-up unlike Australia which could not get the last one wicket out in the remaining overs of the last day and got frustrated!!
• India
18 Jul 09
Just like India, England are late bloomers. Australia had their chance in the 1st test and they failed to nail the last one. I think they have missed their only chance to win a Test in this Series. This Ashes is surely going to only one team, and that is England. Remember, Flintoff is playing his last few tests and all the English players will be pumped up to send him off on a high. Sure, Australia have the capacity to bounce back, but somehow due to lack of a quality spinner in their side, their Bowling lacks the Killer instinct. Aussies are missing Warne sorely.