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England toil on second day

Author: Rose Young
Date: 11/07/2009

Unbeaten centuries by Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting put Australia in a strong position at the end of the second day of the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.

The pair came together 30 minutes before lunch when England - and Andrew Flintoff in particular - had their tails up.

A hostile spell of short bowling by the Lancastrian ended with the removal of opener Phillip Hughes for 36 when he was caught by wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

But Katich and Ponting used all their experience to ride the storm before making hay as the day progressed. Opener Katich was first to reach his century and finished unbeaten on 104 after a dogged display of batting.

Ponting then eased to a 38th career century as the tourists closed the second day on 249-1.

Can Australia build on their good start to clinch victory in the first Ashes Test? - Latest Cricket Betting

Earlier in the day, Australia wrapped up England's first innings for 435 after some spirited lower order batting.

Stuart Broad was bowled around the legs by Mitchell Johnson after a quick-fire 19 and nightwatchman James Anderson added 26 runs of his own before being caught by Mike Hussey off the bowling of Nathan Hauritz.

Graeme Swann was the hero of the morning session for England as he clubbed his way to an unbeaten 47 with some superb shot-making.

The spinner was only denied a half-century when last man Monty Panesar was caught by Ponting in the slips off Hauritz, who finished with figures of 3-95.

In cycling, Norway's Thor Hushovd won a sprint finish to secure victory in Stage Six of the Tour de France.

Hushovd finished just ahead of Oscar Freire to win the 181km stage from Girona to Barcelona.

Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas was third and Germany's Gerald Ciolek fourth while Fabian Cancellara's tenth-placed finish proved good enough for him to retain the yellow jersey.

Lance Armstrong and sports betting favourite to be the overall winner later this month, Alberto Contador, remain well-placed.

In football, John Sutton scored twice as Motherwell moved into the second round of qualifying for the Europa League by beating Llanelli 3-1 on aggregate.

After losing 1-0 at home in last week's first leg, the Steelmen avoided further embarrassment thanks to Sutton's first-half double and a third goal by Jamie Murphy. Jim Gannon's side now face Albanian side KS Flamurtari in the next round.

Elsewhere, Welsh side The New Saints were beaten by Icelandic outfit Fram while Lisburn Distillery were thrashed 6-0 by Zestafoni as they lost 11-1 on aggregate to the Georgian team.

Finally, Linfield slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Randers to follow on from their 1-0 loss in last week's first leg.

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