Australia level Ashes 2009, win over England by an innings and 80 runs

Super-happy skipper of Australia Ricky Ponting said his side was “unbelievable” throughout the fourth Ashes Test which his side won by an innings and 80 runs against the hapless England attack.
The victory achieved within three days at Leeds saw Australia retain their Ashes 2009 hopes  and sets up a winner takes-all-clash at the Oval, where the fifth and final Test starts on August 20.
What makes this Test a memorable one was that Australia were on top throughout, bowling England out for a meagre 102 on the first day, with recalled quick Stuart Clark taking three wickets for 18 runs and Peter Siddle taking a Test-best five for 21.
And in reply piled up a huge  445, with Marcus North’s 110 the centrepiece before bowling England out for 263 shortly after lunch on Sunday, with pacer Mitchell Johnson, taking a series best five wickets for 69 runs.
The major aspects for England will be that Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, numbers three, four and five respectively, managed a meagre 16 runs between them in a side that is deprived of services from missing the injured Kevin Pietersen (Achilles), and Andrew Flintoff (knee problem).
“I said right through the series if we could get early wickets and get the middle-order in there against the new ball we could do some damage and we did it twice,” Ponting said, shortly after winning the fourth Test.
“You can’t ask for anything more. We couldn’t have done anything much better. We had an unbelievable game.”
Ponting hailed the first day display of Clark, which inspired the rest of the bowling attack. “Stuart Clark has a real calm experienced head on his shoulders. We all know Stuart is capable and it gave us the opportunity for Siddle and Johnson to operate in short bursts. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for the whole tour. I said from start how much it would mean to me to win this one,” Ponting said.
On the other hand, nothing went right for the hosts with an early morning fire alarm at their hotel waking up the players before 5 am local time on Friday.
Then, after taking the difficult decision to drop Flintoff and replace him with a fast bowler in Stephen Harmison, England suffered fresh disruption during the warm-up when wicket-keeper Matt Prior had a back spasm.
That led to a toss delay but England captain and opener Andrew Strauss, who opted to bat first, said: “If we use that as an excuse we are barking up the wrong tree. The first session was an awful session and from there it was hard to get back in the game. We need to learn lessons and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again. As a team, we’ve always come back well after performing badly.”
However, Strauss insisted: “It’s a time to be calm and not to panic — if we win at the Oval we win the series.”
He added: “We didn’t really turn up but we have to take it on the chin. We’ve been scratching our head as to why.”
On Flintoff’s Oval prospects, Strauss said: “If he’s going to play, he’s got to be fit to play his role as an all-rounder, not 28 overs a day but fit to bowl more than one spell.”
Ponting, asked if England could win at the Oval without Flintoff, said: “They can without him but they will find it more difficult. It will be difficult for England to bounce back. Some of our guys who have been struggling for touch are now in the best form of their career. Everything is heading in the right direction for us at the best moment of the tour.”
The Australians have bounced in a truly emphatic fashion and the final Ashes Test will be a mouth-watering prospect