lol, I`d forgotten about the 2nd test starting.

oops i thought that was end of day 1 score , forgot about Adelaide been 2hrs behind edited first post to update score.

Collingwood reaches double ton in record stand with Pietersen

Adelaide, Dec. 2 (AP): Paul Collingwood made a landmark double century in a 310-run partnership with Keven Pietersen as England reached 468 for four by tea on the second day of the second Ashes cricket test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Collingwood passed 200 for the first time in his test or first class career and became only the third Englishman after Reginald Foster and Walter Hammond to score a double century in an Ashes test in Australia. Hammond did so on three occasions.

His long, defiant innings which began when England was 45-2, 516 minutes or almost four full sessions earlier ended in the over before tea when he was bowled by Stuart Clark for 206.

The marathon partnership between Collingwood and Pietersen, the fifth-highest for any England wicket in as Ashes test, was also the largest for England's fourth wicket in Ashes history, surpassing Graham Thorpe and Nasser Hussain's 288 at Edgbaston in 1997.

When their partnership surpassed 262 in the heart of a day of relentless run-gathering, they had achieved the largest stand for any wicket by an England pair at Adelaide, surpassing Walter Hammond and Douglas Jardine in 1928/29.

Collingwood's 206 was the highest total by an individual Englishman in an Ashes test at Adelaide, exceeding Jack Hobbs' 187 94 years earlier.

Hobbs shared England's highest partnership against Australia in Australia: 323 with Wilfred Rhodes in 1911/12. Collingwood and Pieterson established themselves in second place on Saturday, surpassing Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe's 283, achieved in 1924/25.

Collingwood's innings was a massive feat of patience and endurance. Brought to the crease Friday with the loss of both England openers, with his team precariously placed after winning the toss and batting on a docile pitch, he steadily batted them to safety, then dominance.

He put on 113 for the third wicket with Ian Bell to first steady the innings then, through the final session Friday and for the next three sessions until tea Saturday, he and Pietersen defied the Australian attack.

Pieterson was 146 not out at team, having batted six minutes less than six hours and having battered 14 fours and a six in an innings which mixed prudence with controlled aggression.

Their partnership was worth 108 overnight, when England was 266 for three, but Collingwood and Pietersen set out Saturday to turn a major partnership into a potential match-winner.

Collingwood was poised nervously at 98 not out overnight but went on without anxiety or incident to his century from the second ball he faced, striking a confident off-driven three off Brett Lee. He had batted 283 minutes at that stage. Pietersen survived a confident appeal for caught behind off Lee before progressing to his century, with a fusillade of fours off Glenn McGrath, in 199 minutes.

Milestones slipped regularly behind the pair as they batted on throughout the afternoon. Their 200 partnership came in 259 minutes and Collingwood's 150 in 434 minutes, during a period of somber accumulation.

England's 400 followed, then the 250 partnership and finally the 300 partnership after 335 minutes as the runs flowed more freely.

Collingwood's loss immediately before tea was a blow to England but his contribution had secured them dominance in the match and both moral and technical parity in the series.

The Hindu