da gbg bet： After a day of toil and sweat, Shane Warne finally landed his 400th Testwicket at the AMP Oval today while, after waiting ten years, Mark Ramprakashfinally made his first Test century on home soil
Kate Laven25-Aug-2001After a day of toil and sweat, Shane Warne finally landed his 400th Testwicket at the AMP Oval today while, after waiting ten years, Mark Ramprakashfinally made his first Test century on home soil.The long awaited hundred was only his second Test century in a careerspanning 46 Tests and it took five-and-a-quarter hours in the blisteringheat to complete on the ground the Surrey batsman made his new home earlierthis year. The innings brought England in sight of the follow-on target of442, closing the third day of the match on 409 for eight with Ramprakashunbeaten on 124.For much of his innings he played second fiddle to his partners with firstNasser Hussain, then Usman Afzaal stealing the limelight. But he workedhard in the background, accumulating his runs quietly and cleanly until hearrived in the 80s and with England losing their eighth wicket, he wassuddenly in danger of running out of partners.But Darren Gough stayed with him and finally, with the shadows lengthening,he drove Warne elegantly to the extra cover boundary to celebrate a momentthat will remain one of the most emotional of his career. It was his 15thboundary from 196 balls and it resulted in a standing ovation from the18 000 strong London crowd. His England colleagues applauded from thebalcony, Gough gave him a big bearhug and the Australian players, includingSteve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist, came to him to shake his hand.Warne also had to wait to reach his milestone. Five long hours after takinghis 399th wicket, he finally hit the jackpot with the support of his captainwho tossed him the new ball when it was just six overs old. It allowed Warneto enter the history books as the sixth bowler in Test history to take 400wickets.He celebrated in the new way – by holding the cricket ball above his headand turning a circle to acknowledge the applause, as batters do with theirhardware. And most of the crowd rose to their feet to showtheir appreciation, aware that for the second consecutive day in this lastnpower Test of the summer, they were witnessing something special.Alec Stewart, who was also Warne’s 150th and 250th Test victim, was caught behindtrying to steer the ball down to third man after he had made 29 and put on58 for the sixth wicket with Ramprakash.With the very next ball, Warne added another statistic to his record bookswhen he took five wickets in a Test innings for the 19th time, having AndrewCaddick leg before for a duck.His hat-trick opportunity arrived in the shape of James Ormond, playing in hisfirst Test match and arriving at the crease with England’s score 313 forseven, still 129 runs shy of the follow on, but Ormond shrugged offthe pressure and pushed Warne to mid on to get off the mark.Warne was in action from the Vauxhall End for most the day although he put in anexpensive four-over spell from the Pavilion End before returning north withhis new ball to devastating effect. He bowled a remarkable 34 overs andfinished with an equally remarkable 6-155.The two milestone moments topped off another spell-binding day. MarcusTrescothick was the first England batsman to depart, bowled by Warne’sfifth delivery of the day then Mark Butcher, who turned the match atHeadingley, also fell before lunch for 25, caught at silly point to giveWarne his 399th wicket.Hussain repeated his Headingley experience by playing with doggeddetermination to reach 52 then lost his wicket 19 balls after lunch, playingon to Mark Waugh, of all people, who was filling in at the Vauxhall endwhile Warne took a short break from his 400 campaign.Afzaal presented his credentials for the first time with a spiritedhalf-century, arguing his case persuasively for a place on England’s wintertour to India and New Zealand. By the time he went, England were 255 forfive, their only real hope lying with Ramprakash, who was lookingincreasingly at ease.