Warne passes 700 wickets as England collapse

Scorecard

Shane Warne captured five wickets to take his career total past 700 as Australia seized control of the fourth Ashes Test against England on Tuesday.

Warne took 5-39 to complete his 37th five-wicket haul and become the first man to claim 700 Test victims as England collapsed to 159 all out on the first day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Australia, in reply, slumped to 48 for two at stumps, after England skipper Andrew Flintoff first dismissed Justin Langer for 27 then nightwatchman Brett Lee for a golden duck in successive deliveries.

Matthew Hayden got the benefit of the doubt to a confident appeal for lbw to reach the close unbeaten on 17 with his captain Ricky Ponting yet to score.

Flintoff's double strike provided the tourists with some hope of staging a fightback and salvaging a little pride from a series where they have been comprehensively outplayed, losing the first three Tests to surrender the Ashes they won last year.

Their batting had let them down in each of the three previous matches and once again failed them after they won the toss and elected to have first use of the pitch.

England made a bright start and were cruising along at 101-2 after lunch when the wheels suddenly fell off and they collapsed, losing their last eight wickets for 58 runs.

Warne, who announced last week that he would retire from Test cricket after the final Ashes match in Sydney, was again the destroyer, bowling magnificently on a pitch that was better suited to the seamers.

The master leg spinner reached the once-unimaginable milestone of 700 wickets when he clean bowled opener Andrew Strauss for 50 with a perfect leg-break.

He then added the scalps of Kevin Pietersen (21), Chris Read (3), Steve Harmison (7) and Monty Panesar (4), when they all inexplicably threw their wickets away with rash shots.

Pietersen was caught on the long-on boundary, Read drove a ball straight to Ponting at short extra-cover after Australia set the trap for him while Harmison and Panesar both spooned easy catches to the outfield.

Lee grabbed two wickets with his sheer pace while Stuart Clarke also got two and Glenn McGrath one after a superb display of seam bowling under heavy skies.

TWO STOPPAGES

The start of play was delayed by half an hour because of rain and there were another two stoppages before tea, to the dismay of the near-record crowd of 89,155 who had turned out to witness Warne's last Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 37-year-old had stunned the sporting world with his announcement last week that he would quit international cricket after the final Ashes Test in Sydney next week but proved his retirement was unrelated to form.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to be honest. It was a great effort, I thought all the boys bowled well," Warne said in a televised interview.

"It's just great. The crowd were fantastic for all of us today."

"To do it here in Melbourne... I don't know who's writing my scripts but it's pretty good."

Lee made the initial breakthrough before lunch when Alastair Cook (11) tried to let a ball go that nicked the toe of his bat and carried through to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

Clark trapped Ian Bell (7) then had Flintoff (13) caught by Warne at slip while Ponting held a sharp catch at second slip to get rid of Paul Collingwood (28) off Lee.

McGrath claimed his 150th Ashes wicket when he dismissed Sajid Mahmood for a duck before Warne polished off the tail, celebrating his achievement by raising the ball in his right arm and saluting the crowd.