England defy odds in dramatic draw

By John Mehaffey

CARDIFF (Reuters) - England last pair Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar proved their country's unlikely batting heroes when the hosts defied the rules of probability by drawing the first Ashes test against Australia on Sunday.

Australia, who had dominated the match in all departments for the first four days, were moving inexorably to what appeared an inevitable 1-0 lead in the five-match series as the England batsmen found new ways to gift their wickets.

Paul Collingwood was the exception, fighting a lone battle for the best part of six hours. But when he was caught for 74 England still needed six runs to make Australia bat again with a minimum 11.3 overs left in the day's play.

Panesar was greeted with the huge cheer he gets whenever he chases a ball in the field or comes out to bat as England's last man. Unlike his fielding, however, Panesar can bat and he played resolutely straight to everything the Australian bowlers could hurl at him.

"I was pretty nervous but Jimmy and I were communicating pretty well," Panesar told a news conference.

"We just said to each other play the ball straight and watch the ball hard. Now we're sitting here with a draw."

Two boundaries to Anderson off aggressive paceman Peter Siddle persuaded Australia captain Ricky Ponting to bring on occasional off-spinner Marcus North to accompany the specialist Nathan Hauritz.

Ponting defended his decision by saying both men spun the ball away from the left-handers and would get their overs finished quickly in the final hour.