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By Peter May
Click here for Peter May's view on day three
CLOSE: Australia, 1st Innings 277 for two, trail England by 96 runs
1830: There will be no further play today.
1821: Over 78.4 A single apiece this time and it is sufficiently gloomy that Koertzen and Bowden offer the light. Hayden and Martyn accept and head to the pavilion, a predictable decision as they are struggling a touch and the new ball is due.
1816: Over 78 The wicket has definitely slowed Australia, who are limited to a single to cover from this Giles over. Hayden takes it, keeping the strike while Martyn is happy to block.
1813: Over 77 A maiden over from Flintoff, who keeps Martyn busy with the usual bag of tricks: relying mostly on hitting the deck hard just short of a length but mixing it with a couple of fuller balls.
1809: Over 76 Australia take the deficit into double figures, Hayden driving a single to mid-on and Martyn matching with a push to mid-wicket. Two from the over, and 100 more for a first-innings lead.
1806: Over 75 Flintoff sends down a perfect bouncer early in the over, Martyn forced to duck right underneath the ball. A nicely timed push through cover brings two but the good news is that Vaughan fields with no ill-effects from his earlier slide. Flintoff responds with the leg-cutter which again beats the outside edge before a bouncer wafted at by Martyn, a sign that he is less than comfortable. Flintoff appeals for a caught-behind but Koertzen rejects. A straight, full ball finishes the over and the right-hander blocks.
1802: Over 74 Hayden drives to long-on for a single off the second ball of the over and Martyn is on strike to Giles. The new batsman gets solid bat on the first two and then pads the third without offering a shot but Bowden rejects appeals. Martyn gets a single with a paddle to mid-wicket and keeps the strike.
1758: Over 73 England bring a second slip in for Damien Martyn but the new batsman is able to shoulder arms to the first ball. The next is uppish outside off and sent to the point boundary but in the air, as per Vaughan's plan for the number four. Flintoff finishes the over with a brilliant leg-cutter which beats the outside edge and the crowd is suddenly buzzing.
1754: WICKET!
RT Ponting c Strauss b Flintoff 35 Flintoff begins with a slip and a gully and shocks Ponting by rushing one through short of a length, tucking up the batsman and forcing a late cut which drops short of gully and Strauss scoops a superb catch just above the ground. England needed that wicket, and there are no prizes for having predicted the man to make the difference.
1753: Harmison is replaced by Flintoff at the Pavilion End.
1753: Over 72 Giles keeps Ponting unusually quiet, pinning the Australian batsman in his crease for five forward defensives in a row but the bowler is denied an overdue maiden by a flick to leg from the final delivery.
1750: Over 71 Harmison feeds Ponting a straightforward hook with the first ball of the over and the right-hander justifies his reputation as the world's best player of that shot. A leg-bye reduces the arrears to 110 and Hayden plays out the over.
1745: Over 70 Giles' insistence on bowling over the wicket denies another lbw chance as Hayden plants his foot outside the line before trying to sweep. The big left-hander continues to exhibit a desire to attack but it isn't slogging - Australia's plan appears to be to bat only once in this Test, set a target and let Warne at England's timorous top seven.
1741: Over 69 A single apiece for Hayden and Ponting as Harmison continues to bang it in short of a length. He then feeds the left-hander a slower ball but sends it down leg and a full delivery pushed out to cover for no run. Slow, steady stuff from Australia who are really taking control now.
1737: Over 68 Ponting cannot get Giles away until the fourth ball of the over but then sweeps a single. Hayden sees a trademark drive stopped bravely by the bowler but adds another one to the total with a pull slowed but not stopped by the diving Vaughan.
1732: Over 67 Australia attack from the off, looking for a single to every ball. There is a run from each of the first three deliveries and then Hayden is forced to block a straight couple. The final delivery is flicked away for two to Flintoff at deep backward square leg and they take two on a dreadful throw from the all-rounder.
1728: Harmison to bowl from the Pavilion End.
1728: Over 66 Ponting works a single to off from the spare ball of Giles' interrupted over.
1727: The players return to the field. There are 18.1 overs to bowl tonight.
1710: The rain has stopped, the covers have come off and play will resume from 1730BST.
1630: Dark skies and heavy rain at The Oval with no prospect of an immediate return to the field. Stand by for official information as and when we get it.
1624: Over 65.5 Ponting plays two dots and then sweeps for a single. Hayden faces out two and the rain comes down to prompt another break.
1622: Hayden 100: 218 balls, 14 x 4s
1622: Over 65 Hayden is now playing his favoured drive whether it is there to drive or not. He hits a Flintoff short ball for four and then takes a single. Ponting drive past cover for one and England are given another problem to deal with as Vaughan slips in collecting, feeling his leg gingerly after his throw. This concern is put on the back burner as Hayden brings up his century with two down the ground off the final ball.
1618: Over 64 Hayden takes a single first ball and Giles initially has Ponting on the back foot but tosses down a rank long hop which the right-hander hammers to the extra-cover boundary. A block finishes the over.
1614: Over 63 Workmanlike return from Flintoff which goes dot, one, dot, one, dot one. Hayden and Ponting may be sending a message in binary, but more likely is that they remain wary of the all-rounder and will prefer to take their runs from Giles.
1610: Flintoff returns for Harmison at the Pavilion End.
1610: Over 62 Giles finds a thick outside edge to Hayden and Jones is marginally out of position so the ball flies past his gloves but inside first slip Trescothick for four runs - what exactly are you waiting for if an edge can bisect wicketkeeper and slip? Hayden then takes a single and Ponting is almost out to a ball which misses his ineffectual prod, hits the pad and is taken by a smart short-leg catch from Bell. Bowden makes an excellent decision to reject appeals.
1605: Over 61 Hayden really is a powerful man and he is giving an overdue demonstration of that power here. A square cut for two is followed by a pull for four and it comes off the edge of the bat so fast that Pietersen cannot get around from the square-leg boundary rope to stop at mid-wicket. Hayden and Ponting trade singles to leg though the latter's effort is another hugely unconvincing roll of the wrists over a short ball. Hayden pushes yet another single off the final ball to keep the strike and Australia are rolling ominously on.
1600: Over 60 Giles is trying to find the footmarks and is mixing up his flight and variation but the decision to remove Flintoff remains curious. Ponting is not under sufficient pressure for a man who struggles so early in his innings and Australia are able to add another four runs in the over.
1555: Over 59 Harmison gets a big appeal first ball as it pitches in line and hits the top of Hayden's front pad, the batsman is offering no shot but Koertzen is right to divine that it is going to miss off. The next also hits the pad but pitched outside leg and is again a touch too high, England are appealing out of hope but this battle between the contest's two biggest competitors will not produce many which will hit the stumps. Harmison then throws in his slower ball for the second successive over but Hayden picks and blocks, playing out the over.
1550: Over 58 Giles drops one short and Ponting cuts away for three to bring up the 200 with Strauss fielding well. Hayden then charges and drives down the ground for one. Ponting blocks, blocks and blocks with Bell in at short leg.
1546: Giles replaces Flintoff at the Vauxhall Road End.
1546: Over 57 Harmison is rediscovering the menace of Lord's putting Ponting into a spin with a bouncer deflected skywards in a panic but falling safe at backward square leg. Hayden then gets banged on the thigh after missing a short one and hobbles a leg bye. Harmison tries Ponting with another bouncer but cannot get the power and it sits up for a pull, the Tasmanian executing superbly with a hit through mid-wicket for four. Last ball of the over is blocked and the deficit is 175.
1541: Over 56 Flintoff is still struggling with no-ball problems but certainly does not lack aggression in getting at notoriously bad starter Ponting. A couple really rush through to unsettle the Australia captain but the batsman then gets off the mark with a push to leg. Hayden plays out the over.
1536: Over 55 Harmison is hitting the deck as hard as he can, Hayden getting bat behind balls short of a length and then working a boundary very fine down leg from a bouncer. He drives the last uppishly but it reaches Bell at mid-off on the bounce.
1536: Over 54 Flintoff restarts solidly, five dot balls to Hayden and then single off the last. This is the brief period before the real battle with both parties seeking to get back into a groove but it is clear that Vaughan has demanded outright aggression from his two fast bowlers.
1532: Flintoff to bowl from the Vauxhall Road End as England seek wickets.
1532: Over 53 Ponting plays out his first two balls from Harmison, who has understandably lost rhythm in the break.
1530: The players return to the field of play.
1510: Play will resume at 1530 with play possible until 1900, weather permitting.
1500: Tea will be taken as scheduled at 1510BST and there are slim hopes of play soon after with SW11 skies brightening slightly.
1400: The rain is coming down in sheets now and no play is imminent. There will need to no little drying time, too, so it is difficult to see a return to the field in much under an hour.
1338: Over 52.4 An eventful six balls of which only four count restores the cutting edge to this Test match. The over begins productively for Langer, who drops the ball backward of square on off to bring up his century with a boundary. There are two wides from Harmison too but he's bowling with real menace now and gets one right into the ribcage. His ferocious mood is not improved when an edged boundary takes Langer past the 7000-run landmark. But he gets his reward with a wicket and is then denied the chance to bowl at Ricky Ponting as the rain grows noticably heavier.
1334: WICKET!
JL Langer b Harmison 105 Harmison gets a reward for his menace as he whistles one through on the off side and draws an inside edge onto the stumps.
1331: The rain resumes and umbrellas flower around the ground, giving the terraces the appearance of a meadow in spring (if one imagines that daisies were sponsored by golf equipment manufacturers and middle-sized insurance firms).
1330: Over 52 Hayden begins cautiously to Giles but then walks up the crease and hits back down the ground in the air, Flintoff at long-off does not pick it up though it is doubtful he could have got across to catch. Hayden then pushes one to cover, Langer top-edges a sweep onto 97* and Hayden plays out the over.
1326: Over 51 Harmison is bowling reasonably well today but the docile pitch means that there is very little room for error. He initially keeps Hayden on strike but drops the fourth ball a touch short and that is enough for a cheap single to leg. Langer is rapped on the pads outside leg off the final ball and there is little left for England to do beyond keep their concentration and wait for an error and a bit of luck.
1322: Over 50 Langer, unbeaten on 94, therefore is on strike at the start of the next over. He takes a single off the second ball and Hayden appears keen to force the issue but Giles' shrewd use of extra pace secures two dot balls. A sweep keeps the strike moving and Langer then cuts away for two to Pietersen on the boundary.
1318: Over 49 Hayden gets bat on ball to each of the first three, pushing back to the bowler. The fourth ball is a touch short and leg-side allowing a single and the next ball is identical allowing Langer a flick to fine leg for one. The final ball is back in the right place, left alone as it zags across and into the gloves of GO Jones.
1314: Harmison to resume at the Pavilion End as rain again starts to fall.
1314: Over 48 Langer works the first ball to leg for a single, Hayden copies precisely, Langer takes another run to the same place and Vaughan spots the trend and plugs the gap. Hayden pushes one to deep mid-off to complete a good start for Australia with Giles unable to apply the brakes as hoped.
1310: Giles to bowl from the Vauxhall Road End.
1310: England's prayers are not answered and they have to return to the field, albeit under heavy cloud cover.
1232: End of session
Australia, 1st Innings 157 for 0, trail England by 216 runs
Australia have made the best of a fragmented session, nudging the total onwards without losing a wicket.
It has not been without difficulty – Justin Langer could have been out lbw first ball of the morning and there have been quarter-chances in the air near Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss – but England's four-man attack remains a blunt knife.
Barring a conspiracy of circumstances involving a risky Australia declaration it will now be impossible for England to win this Test, they would not take 20 wickets if they bowled for the remaining eight sessions and they hope to bat for at least half of those.
Michael Vaughan will be doing a mental rain dance at lunch while Australia cross their fingers and hope for some good fortune from a mixed afternoon forecast.
1232: Over 47 Harmison does not get the help he needs from friend Flintoff on the first ball, Langer pushing two through the all-rounder at cover-point. The bowler responds well though, beating the outside edge and sending through a bouncer. A single to fine leg puts Hayden on strike and he sees out the over though Harmison is finding his length.
1228: Over 46 Hayden is now playing with the exuberance of a man reprieved on death row. Having racked up the 50 he spots a ball a touch too full and wide very early, hammering a drive over cover for four with trademark power. Hoggard responds later in the over, beating the bat and rapping the pad outside leg but the growing feeling is that this is Cumulus Nimbus v Australia now.
1224: Over 45 Harmison begins with a textbook long-hop (if any textbook includes long-hops) and Hayden fetches the tamely rising ball off his legs and away to the leg-side boundary. The next two are better, into the body or past the outside edge, but then he drops it too short again and the batsman works another single to leg. Langer's thigh pad has to earn its money from the final ball, which is the perfect Harmison length and whistles through to beat the bat. England need their strike bowler to find his best form here.
1219: Harmison replaces Flintoff at the Pavilion End.
1218: Over 44 Hayden has toned down his approach from before the rain delay blocking and pushing at Hoggard and taking a modest single off the fifth ball of the over. Langer gets a beauty last ball, pitching on leg and moving away into Jones' gloves and the bowler is left to offer his best farmer's grimace at the batsman.
1215: Hayden 50: 137 balls, 7 x 4s
1215: Over 43 Hayden still looks uncomfortable to Flintoff, fending off with discomfort which amuses the bowler. But a single pushed to mid-off brings his first half-century of the summer, he fails to acknowledge the applause perhaps aware that he will need more runs to safeguard his Test future. Langer is able to time a nice cover drive to a no-ball which Ian Bell, taking on the off-side sweeper role at this end.
1211: Over 42 Hoggard bowls to Hayden with no man at silly mid-off but Collingwood at a shortish cover where he almost took a catch in the previous mini session. There are two slips, a gully and the error-prone Pietersen is out at deep backward point. Hayden plays out five dots with assurance, the fresher atmosphere has rather drawn Hoggard's swing. He then takes a single from the final delivery to keep the strike.
1206: Over 41 Hayden takes a single off the first ball and Langer sees out the remaining two balls of Flintoff's over which was curtailed by rain half an hour ago.
1203: The players return to the field.
1155: The covers are coming off now and the umpires have taken a look at the conditions. Word has come through that play will resume in ten minutes at 1205BST.
1135: Over 40.3 Hayden is now batting with the recklessness of previous Tests, beginning with a block and a leave but then swinging wide outside a ball from Flintoff. The rain then gets heavier and play is suspended.
1132: Gary Pratt enters the fray for Ashley Giles, whose frequent toilet breaks bring to mind a fidgeting child on a long car journey. He really should go before they take the field, though perhaps this visit has been prompted by the falling rain.
1132: Over 40 Langer begins the over with a four, cut away to square and through the extravagant and probably unnecessary dive of Kevin Pietersen. The next ball goes to the same place at half the speed and the batsmen jog a single as Pietersen collects to a huge ironic cheer, something which goes unacknowledged by the humourless fieldsman. Hayden then takes a streaky four of his own, swinging wide outside off and thick-edging beyond the despairing dive of second slip Andrew Strauss. Hayden takes a single to Pietersen off the last ball to complete a profitable but unconvincing over.
1127: Over 39 Hayden has kept the strike and faces out four dot balls before getting into a little trouble. The fifth of the over is a sharp-rising ball from short of the length and it catches the outside edge of a back-foot defensive before falling short of third slip. The final delivery is off a similar length and inside-edged onto the body and wide of the stumps. Flintoff smiles ruefully with Hayden clearly in the dark over that one.
1122: Over 38 Flintoff is fielding in that silly mid-off position which England have deployed all summer to Hayden. Langer is responding by backing up inside the fieldsman so he both blocks Flintoff's access to the stumps and disturbs his eye line in the event of a catching chance. Meanwhile at the striker's end Hayden works a four to fine leg and then gets beaten by one that goes away. Hoggard lands the fifth on middle and gets it to straighten and hit the bottom of the knee roll, it is the best lbw shout of the morning but the batsman has taken a big stride and there is enough doubt to reject. A single to finish the over and Hoggard takes a leaf out of Ricky Ponting's book by entering into animated discussion with Bowden over that lbw appeal.
1117: Over 37 Flintoff is looking a far greater threat this morning, pitching one outside leg and straightening it onto Langer's pad with Koertzen rightly rejecting lbw appeals. A second maiden for the Lancastrian who beats the outside edge a couple of times to boot.
1112: Over 36 Langer is not into his stride yet, almost running out Hayden twice in the same ball. He pushes the first delivery to off in front of square and calls one to Collingwood, the point fielder would have his man with a direct hit to the striker's end but misses and Australia take an overthrow with Hayden only just in his ground to the non-striker's end. A single through cover next ball puts the bigger man on strike and he drives powerfully but in the air through short cover, beating Collingwood's full-length dive for sheer pace. Boundary for that one and an over in which the luck is obviously still with the batting side.
1108: Over 35 England almost get a wicket first ball of this over too as Hayden taps down to Collingwood at backward point and Langer sets off for a run, he is sent back by his partner and has to scamper 16 or 18 yards back to the non-striker's end as the fielder gathers, spins and throws just wide of the stumps. It is a maiden to start for Flintoff, bowling over the wicket and angling the ball across the left-hander into the cordon.
1104: Andrew Flintoff to bowl from the Pavilion End.
1104: Over 34 Hoggard begins with a wicked inswinger, rapping the pads on leg but rightly considered by Bowden to be missing leg. There is good early swing for a bowler who flourishes in these atmospheric conditions. There are four runs from the over, a pair of twos worked to leg by Langer, but England will be encouraged by the movement.
1100: Matthew Hoggard to bowl from the Vauxhall End.
1057: England come down the pavilion steps and enter into their customary huddle. The sky is overcast and the atmosphere muggy, the bowlers know they need early breakthroughs to interrupt Australian momentum.
1020: The umpires return from their pitch inspection to confirm that play will begin at 1100BST.
1000: The home team's precarious grip on the fifth Test received sorely needed assistance from the English weather last night and the clouds have done their best again this morning.
There was rain overnight in south London and the sun came up behind a thick, foreboding layer but matters are now looking brighter and the outside covers have been removed.
Umpires Koertzen and Bowden will perform a pitch inspection at 1015BST.
When play resumes Australia will be keen to get runs on the board with time expected to be limited this afternoon.
Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden have made an unbeaten opening partnership of 112 in response to England's 373 and will be looking to get up and around parity if, as expected, around 60 overs are possible.
Michael Vaughan's main concern will be the impotence of his four-man attack yesterday, but there has been the chance to rest his three seamers and formulate some new plans against batsmen who have to start again this morning.
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