England reached 311 for six in its second innings on the third day of the second Test on Saturday to put itself in a splendid position to win its first Ashes Test at Lord's for 75 years. When rain ended play, England held an overall lead of 521 after captain Andrew Strauss had decided against enforcing the follow-on. Australia was dismissed for 215 in the morning session in reply to the hosts' 425. Strauss and Alastair Cook moved purposefully to 61 in 56 minutes when off-spinner Nathan Hauritz struck with his first delivery after lunch. The ball hustled through low, Cook missed and was given out lbw for 32. Eight balls later Strauss was out for the same score, deceived by a flighted delivery which spun away from the left-hander and caught the edge to give Michael Clarke a simple catch at first slip. Kevin Pietersen drove Hauritz handsomely for four but then became increasingly introspective. Ravi Bopara was also becalmed against accurate swing bowling from Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle. He survived a dropped catch at second slip by Ricky Ponting on 11 off Siddle but had played only 13 scoring shots from 93 balls when he was caught for 27 off Hauritz at short-leg. Pietersen was out at 44 when Brad Haddin took a smart catch behind the stumps off a thick inside edge from Siddle. Following the torpid afternoon session, Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior injected some overdue enterprise into the innings. Prior was particularly effective with the sweep shot off Hauritz, reaching his half-century from only 37 balls. He was run out trying to run a risky second and Marcus North threw down the stumps from deep backward point with Prior on 61. Andrew Flintoff, greeted by a huge cheer for his final Test innings at Lord's, got off the mark with a massive pull for four. He upper-cut Mitchell Johnson for four and had reached 30 not out when play ended. Collingwood hustled busily between the wickets to reach his third fifty of the series in four innings before he was caught behind off Siddle for 54. Siddle and Hauritz batted without undue fuss when Australia started the day at 156 for eight needing 70 to avoid the follow-on. Hauritz was out at 24 and Siddle for 35. The ease with which they handled the bowling may have persuaded Strauss against asking Australia to follow-on. He would also be aware Sri Lanka and South Africa have saved Tests at Lord's in recent years after being asked to follow
