Centuries from Alastair Cook and Ian Bell put England within sight of their first series victory in Australia for 24 years after a dominant third day at the final Sydney Ashes Test on Wednesday. Cook again tormented Australia with 189 while Bell scored his elusive first Ashes century, breaking an 18-Test drought against Australia with 115 to leave England with a commanding 208-run lead and two days play to force a result.
When bad light ended play with five overs left, England were 488 for seven with Matt Prior on 54 and Tim Bresnan yet to score. It puts the tourists in a strong position having already retained the Ashes after a convincing victory over Australia last week in the fourth Test in Melbourne.
Cook was finally out driving at Shane Watson and edged to a diving Michael Hussey at gully after tea, while Bell was caught at slip by Michael Clarke off Mitchell Johnson. Cook blunted Australia's attack in over eight hours' of supreme concentration spread over 342 balls with 16 fours.
Along the way, the left-handed opener extended his series aggregate to 766 at 127.66, second only to Wally Hammond (905 in 1928-29) for most runs for England in a series in Australia. It was his 16th career Test century and he now has 5,130 runs at 47.50. It was Cook's second close shave of his innings - both off debutant Beer.
Bell also benefited from a reviewed decision after he was given out caught behind when 67 off Shane Watson by umpire Aleem Dar. The Warwickshire right-hander, who batted for 296 minutes, was also dropped on 84 by legspinner Steven Smith off his own bowling. Collingwood, whose Test future is up the air after dismal batting returns in the series, tried to smash Beer down the ground only to skew high to a back-pedalling Hilfenhaus at mid-on.
The dismissal took his series tally to 83 from six innings, further increasing the pressure on his Test place. Night-watchman James Anderson was out 20 minutes into the third day when he was bowled by Peter Siddle for seven. England, who lead the series 2-1, outplayed the hosts in Adelaide and Melbourne while Australia won the third Test in Perth. The first Brisbane Test was drawn. England were the last team to beat Australia at the SCG, in 2003.
Scoreboard Australia 1st innings: 280
England 1st innings (overnight 167 for 3):
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A. Strauss b Hilfenhaus 60
A. Cook c Hussey b Watson 189
J. Trott b Johnson 0
K. Pietersen c Beer b Johnson 36
J. Anderson b Siddle 7
P. Collingwood c Hilfenhaus b Beer 13
I. Bell c Clarke b Johnson 115
M. Prior not out 54
T. Bresnan not out 0
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Extras: (b3, lb2, w5, nb4) 14
Total: (7 wkts, 141 overs) 488
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Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-99, 3-165, 4-181, 5-226 (Collingwood), 6-380 (Cook), 7-487 (Bell)
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 29-5-104-1 (1w), Johnson 26-3-97-3 (2w), Siddle 26-5-98-1 (1nb 1w), Watson 20-7-49-1 (2nb 1w), Beer 29-2-85-1 (1nb), Smith 10-0-48-0, Hussey 1-0-2-0
Toss: Australia
Crowd: 40,300
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Billy Bowden (NZL)
Third (TV) umpire: Tony Hill (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
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