Flintoff and Collingwood dig deep in bid to avoid whitewash

ANDREW FLINTOFF and Paul Collingwood led a brave England fightback at the SCG in Sydney as the tourists remained in the hunt to avoid a first Ashes whitewash in 85 years.

The duo found themselves in the middle with the score on 167-4 after Glenn McGrath had bagged the prized wickets of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen in his farewell test.

But the 36-year-old's dreams of wrapping up the innings at his home ground were shattered by the resolute England skipper and the trusty Collingwood as the pair hit 67 to leave the tourists on 233-4 before bad light stopped play.

Australia went into the match with the same side that won in Perth but things looked bad for England as leading wicket-taker Matthew Hoggard withdrew with a side strain and was replaced by James Anderson.

After a rain-delayed start, Flintoff won the toss and may have been wondering if he had dropped another clanger when he elected to bat as opener Andrew Strauss struggled to get to grips with the metronome that is McGrath.

At the other end, fellow left-hander Alastair Cook was recovering from a snorter of an opening delivery from Brett Lee that hit him square in the box.

But the duo stuck to their guns and, when Strauss edged Lee beyond the slip cordon for his first boundary, it looked as if the tourists could assume control. The Australians then gave the England opener a lifeline as Justin Langer spilled a chance at third slip off McGrath with the batsman on 21.

But Strauss failed to take advantage of the error and after adding just eight more runs to his tally and with the overall score on 45 - England's highest opening partnership of the tour - the 29-year-old became the first victim of the day.

Attempting to force the pace, Strauss was guilty of a loose shot outside his off stump and Adam Gilchrist took a simple catch behind the stumps off Lee.

And the Australians were soon celebrating again as, shortly after lunch, Cook got an inside edge of a seaming Stuart Clark delivery and Gilchrist clutched his second catch of the day.

With the Essex man gone for 20 the pressure was back on England as Pietersen - again bumped up the order to four - joined Bell with the tourists struggling on 58-2.

But the middle-order pairing responded impressively and grafted and battled for every run on a pitch that offered just enough to keep the Australian seam attack on their toes. The score continued to creep along at a snail's pace until Bell upped the ante by hooking McGrath to the ropes as the duo reached their 50 partnership.

The Warwickshire batsman then reached his fourth half-century of the tour with a single from a Shane Warne delivery as England settled into the box seat.

With Bell dominating, Pietersen continued to resist the temptation to attack and it wasn't until the 42nd delivery of his innings that he registered a boundary.

Despite the slow run-rate, the session belonged to England with 91 runs coming for the fall of just one wicket.

As play resumed, Bell continued to take charge with a beautifully-timed square-cut bringing up the 100 partnership. But England's joy was short lived as McGrath turned the game on its head with two wickets in three balls.

With Warne tying up one end, the veteran seamer cranked up the pressure and he was soon celebrating after dismissing Pietersen with the batsman nine runs short of his half century.

The wicket - McGrath's 900th international scalp - came after an enthralling battle of wills between the pair finally saw Pietersen top-edge an intended hook to Michael Hussey at mid-wicket. Things then went from bad to worse as in his next over McGrath, with the aid of a thin inside edge, bowled Bell with an absolute peach of a delivery.

With Bell gone for a well- constructed 71, England looked in trouble with new batsmen Collingwood and Flintoff both on zero.

But Flintoff, staring down the barrel of an Ashes whitewash, went on the offensive and hammered 42 off 70 deliveries, including a flat six off Clark as England got a foothold back in the game.

At the other end, Collingwood was taking advantage of some loose Warne deliveries to hit successive boundaries in support of his offensive-minded skipper.