Declared at 551, and lost

England won the toss at Adelaide on 1 December 2006, batted for a day and two sessions, and declared at 551 for six. Four days later the card’s result line reads Australia won by 6 wickets. Between the two is a fifth day on which England made 70 runs in 54 overs and Australia made 168 in 32.5.

Five hundred and fifty-one

Paul Collingwood made 206 from 392 balls, Kevin Pietersen 158 from 257, and the two put on 310 for the fourth wicket. England were 266 for three at the close of the first day and 468 for four at tea on the second.

Andrew Flintoff declared after tea, with Ashley Giles 27 not out and himself 38 not out, and Australia were 28 for one by the close. Shane Warne had bowled 53 overs for one wicket.

Full scorecard: Australia v England, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 1–5 December 2006 →

Five hundred and thirteen

Ricky Ponting made 142, Michael Clarke 124, Michael Hussey 91, Adam Gilchrist 64. Matthew Hoggard took seven for 109 in 42 overs. Australia were all out on the fourth afternoon for 513, 38 behind, and England were 59 for one at the close with Andrew Strauss 31 not out. Four sessions remained and the match was, by the arithmetic, a draw.

The fifth day, by the card’s notes

Drinks: 73 for four. Strauss caught off Warne for 34 at 69, Ian Bell run out for 26 at 70, Pietersen bowled by Warne for 2 at 73. Lunch: 89 for five, Flintoff caught behind off Brett Lee for 2. Drinks: 107 for eight, Geraint Jones and Giles both caught by Matthew Hayden, Hoggard bowled by Warne. Tea: 129 all out, Steve Harmison and James Anderson both leg before to Glenn McGrath.

Collingwood batted through it for 22 not out from 119 balls in 198 minutes. Warne bowled 32 overs, twelve maidens, four for 49. McGrath bowled ten overs, six maidens, two for 15. The innings took 73 overs and 324 minutes, and its run rate on the card is 1.76.

One hundred and sixty-eight

Australia needed 168 in the last session. Justin Langer was caught for 7 at 14 and Hayden for 18 at 33. Then Ponting made 49 from 65 balls and Hussey 61 not out from 66, and the hundred came up in 17.4 overs. Damien Martyn was out for 5 at 121. Clarke 21 not out. The target was reached in 32.5 overs and 161 minutes, at 5.11 an over.

The attack it was reached against had bowled 165.3 overs in the first innings, finishing the day before. Hoggard’s four overs in the chase cost 29. Giles bowled ten for 46 and took Ponting. Nobody else took a wicket except Flintoff, who took two.

The declaration

The card shows a declaration at 551 for six with the seventh-wicket pair scoring at nearly a run a ball. It does not show what a declaration at that score is for, which is to leave time to bowl the other side out twice. Australia used the time to make 513, and England used what was left to make 129. The declaration was not the mistake. The 129 was, and the declaration is what made it fatal.

The umpires were Rudi Koertzen and Steve Bucknor. The card gives the hours of play, an eleven o’clock start and a six o’clock close, and it is Test number 1819.

What the card holds

A 206 and a 158 in a losing side. A seven-for for the losing side. A second innings of 129 in 73 overs, with a not-out batter who faced 119 balls for 22. A chase of 168 at five an over. And a series line, Australia led 2-0, under a card whose first line is the highest total on it, made by the side that lost.

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No. 9 in Declared, a series of 15.

NextDeclared at 751