England 425 & 311-6 dec beat Australia 215 & 406 by 115 runs
Scorecard
ANDREW 'Freddie' Flintoff took a five-for on his final appearance at Lord's as England completed a comprehensive win against Australia in the second Test to lead the series 1-0.
Man of the match Flintoff finished with figures of 5-92 as England won an Ashes Test at HQ for the first time since 1934.
In a complete turnaround from the first Test in Cardiff which the Aussies dominated, England similarly were in control throughout this match.
And it was apt that Flintoff should provide the coup-de-grace after he announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of this series in the run-up to Lord's.
Flintoff took three wickets on the final morning to kill off the threat of what would have been a remarkable Aussie comeback.
Brad Haddin was out to Flintoff's first over of the day without adding to his overnight score of 80.
He later bowled out tailenders Nathan Hauritz for one and Peter Siddle for seven.
But the contribution of Notts spinner Graeme Swann was just as important, if not more so.
Shortly after Haddin's dismissal, Michael Clarke's imperious stand of 136 came to an end after Swann bowled him through the gate.
And Swann took the last wicket, that of Mitchell Johnson who had batted well for his 63.
Australia began the last day requiring 209 more runs for a world record fourth innings chase after being set 522 to win by Andrew Strauss's declaration on 311-6.
The early wickets on Sunday of Simon Katich, Philip Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Marcus North left Australia on 128-5.
The clatter of Aussie wickets seemed to have vindicated Strauss's decision not to enforce the follow-on after his innings of 161 had helped England to a first innings lead of 210.
But Clarke and Haddin batted for the rest of the day as Australia reached 313-5 at the close of day four and there was easily enough time for them to pull off the momentous win.
The early loss of Haddin unsettled Clarke, however, and once he had followed, it became only a matter of whether Flintoff could get his name on the Lord's honours board.
Flintoff duly delivered to give England a well-deserved win.
After their lucky escape in Cardiff, and having won the toss, it was important that England's top-order batsmen performed better.
A fine opening partnership of 196 between Strauss and Alastair Cook was an ideal start but the Aussies came back in the final session to restrict England to 364-6 on the first day.
Once again, the tail added vital runs with another last-wicket stand - this time between James Anderson and debutant Graham Onions - pushing England's total past 400 on the second morning.
Anderson then showed his worth as a seamer by removing Philip Hughes and Ricky Ponting to leave Australia on 10-2.
Then, once Onions broke a stand of 93 for the third-wicket between Simon Katich and Mike Hussey, the floodgates opened and Australia finished day two on 156-8.
Onions cleaned up the final two wickets within the opening hour of day three but Strauss, recognising there was plenty of time left in the game, decided to bat again.
Rapid half-centuries in the evening session from Matt Prior and Paul Collingwood justified the decision as England built up a mammoth advantage.
This set up the declaration and the arrival to centre stage of match-winner Flintoff.
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EARLIER CLOSE OF PLAY REPORTS
Day Four (close)
England 435 [Strauss 161, Cook 95] & 311-6 dec [Prior 61, Collingwood 54] v Australia 215 [Hussey 51] & 313-5 [Clarke 125*, Haddin 80*]
DEFIANT Aussie batsmen Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin shared an unbeaten 185 partnership to put England's victory charge on hold on day four of the second Test at Lord's.
Clarke and Haddin arrived at the crease with the tourists in deep trouble on 128-5 after England's bowlers made early inroads.
But some fine batting took Australia within 209 runs of a truly remarkable win as they closed on 313-5.
With the start of play delayed due to bad weather for 15 minutes, captain Andrew Strauss declared on the overnight score of 311-6.
This gave England a lead of 521, with the previous successful record fourth innings chase in Tests being 418 by West Indies against the Aussies in 2003.
The declaration looked to have paid dividends when a fiery Andrew Flintoff, playing in his final Lord's Test, took both openers' wickets.
Simon Katich was out to an uncharacteristic loose shot which was taken by Kevin Pietersen. He was followed shortly afterwards by Philip Hughes who was caught in the slips by Strauss.
Both wickets had an element of controversy to them. Flintoff was shown to have overstepped and bowled a no-ball to Katich while replays suggest Hughes' shot had touched the ground before Strauss took it.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting told young Hughes to stand his ground to cat-calls from the crowd but the umpires in the middle remained unmoved.
Matters got better still for England after lunch when Ponting played onto his stumps off Stuart Broad on 38.
Then a dangerous-looking stand of 42 for the fourth wicket was broken when Mike Hussey was caught by Paul Collingwood off Graeme Swann's spin for 27.
Swann struck again to remove the nervous Marcus North for six as England eyed victory within four days.
But Clarke signalled his intention early on with three sumptuous cover drives and he found a like-minded batting companion in Haddin.
Eventually, England resorted to waiting for the new ball before using the threat of Flintoff and Anderson to try and take the remaining wickets.
But, frustratingly, only six overs were available before bad light stopped play for the night, leaving the match intriguingly poised.
With the ball still new and the bowlers rested, England remain favourites for a first Ashes win at Lord's since 1934.
But Strauss and the bowlers will only get more nervous as Australia put more runs on the board and get closer to their record-breaking target.
Day Three (close)
England 435 [Strauss 161, Cook 95] & 311-6 [Prior 61, Collingwood 54] v Australia 215 [Hussey 51]
ENGLAND built up a huge lead of 521 as they reached 311-6 at close on the third day of the second Test at Lord's.
Half centuries from Matt Prior and Paul Collingwood have arguably taken the match away from Australia who had earlier conceded a first innings deficit of 210.
England skipper Andrew Strauss elected not to enforce the follow-on after Graham Onions took the tourists' two remaining wickets in the opening hour.
Instead, England batted again with the aim of achieving an impenetrable lead.
Openers Strauss and Alastair Cook made an encouraging start and reached lunch on 57-0 before both departed on 32 in quick succession to Nathan Hauritz.
This brought to the crease the start of England's fragile middle order and, once again, Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen scrapped around, looking for their best form.
Bopara never found his and looped an easy catch to Simon Katich on 27 as brave Hauritz picked up his third wicket of the innings despite bowling with a dislocated middle finger.
Pietersen was out shortly afterwards, caught behind by Brad Haddin off Peter Siddle's bowling for 44.
But, more importantly, the run rate had worryingly dropped below three-an-over just when England should have been pressing home their advantage.
Prior and Collingwood recognised this and scored at five-an-over to move the momentum back firmly in England's favour.
England's lead was already 470 when Prior was run out on 61 from just 42 balls by Marcus North's remarkable direct hit, thrown from deep point.
Collingwood was out for 54, caught behind by Haddin off Siddle, from what was the last ball of the day as heavy rain brought a premature halt to proceedings.
England must feel they have just about done enough with the bat and the bowlers will be eager to start taking the 10 Aussie wickets.
But, with so much time in the match still left still left, Strauss may ask his remaining batsmen to continue for some of the morning session to kill off Australia's slim chances completely.
Day Two (close)
England 435 [Strauss 161, Cook 95] v
Australia 156-8 [M Hussey 51; Anderson 4-36]
JAMES Anderson took four wickets to put England in firm control of the second Test at close on day two.
The Burnley Express finished the day with 4-36 as Australia collapsed from 103-2 to 156-8 at stumps, still 70 adrift of the follow-on target.
After his match-saving antics with Monty Panesar in the first Test, Anderson had also contributed earlier in the day with the bat as England look to secure a first win against Australia at Lord's in 75 years.
He scored 29 runs as part of another fine last wicket stand of 47, this time partnered by debutant Graham Onions.
But, resuming on 364-6, England endured early disappointment when they lost skipper Andrew Strauss, on a magnificent 161, to the second ball of the day when he was bowled by Ben Hilfenhaus.
Graeme Swann followed in the next over, caught by Aussie captain Ricky Ponting off Peter Siddle's bowling for four.
And in the third over, England lost their third wicket when Stuart Broad also fell victim to Hilfenhaus for 16.
It left England on 378-9 and unlikely to make 400 despite having been 196-0 and 222-1 during the innings.
But Anderson and Onions cared little for that assumption and took England to 425 before Anderson was finally out, caught by Mike Hussey off Mitchell Johnson's bowling.
If Australia felt that they had finally got a foothold in this match by bowling England out in the opening hour, they were wrong.
By lunch, the Aussies were 22-2 having been 10-2 at one stage as Anderson started aggressively and struck twice early in the innings.
First, Philip Hughes was caught behind by Matt Prior for four. Then Ponting was out for two, given out after his opposite number Strauss took a catch in the slips.
Ponting was not happy with the decision and replays indeed showed he had not hit the ball but that he should have been given out lbw anyway.
A post-lunch recovery was staged by Simon Katich and Hussey who recorded a 93 partnership for the third wicket despite two breaks for rain.
Onions made the vital breakthrough but much of the credit must go to Broad who came in from the deep to make an excellent diving catch to dismiss Katich for 48.
Hussey followed shortly afterwards for 51 as he left a good length ball from Andrew Flintoff which clipped the top of off-stump to leave Australia on 111-4.
With the partnership broken, the floodgates opened.
The Aussies had failed to get off the dreaded 111 when Michael Clarke departed for one run having given Alastair Cook a simple catch at short midwicket as Anderson took his third.
Anderson's fourth followed soon after as Marcus North went for a 14-ball duck, playing an over-eager attempted pull shot onto his stumps.
And the dangerous Mitchell Johnson went cheaply for four when he failed to deal with Broad's short delivery, succeeding only in top-edging it to Cook.
Before the day was finished, Cook snaffled his third catch of the innings as Brad Haddin was dismissed for 28.
Haddin complained about the light after he had similarly failed to deal with a short ball from Broad and, irritatingly for the Aussie keeper, play was brought to an end for the day just ten minutes later.
It had comfortably been England's best day of the series so far as, in all, 12 wickets fell in overcast conditions at Lord's.
If the skies above London remain as bleak as Australia's prospects and England can take the two remaining wickets early enough, the follow-on will come in for serious consideration.
But, weather permitting, England have more than enough time to bat again and compile an impenetrable lead on day three before Anderson and co attack the Aussies again on Sunday.
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