Warne rips through England top order

Strauss recorded his 7th Test Century as England closed on 319 for seven at The Oval on day 1.

Shane Warne ripped out the England top order to leave Australia with the upper hand after an absorbing first day of the fifth and final test despite a fine 129 from Andrew Strauss.

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The leg spinner induced a string of errors from the home batsmen to leave England on 319 for seven at The Oval on Thursday, completing figures of five for 118 from 34 overs to raise his tally to 33 wickets in the series.

Australia, 2-1 behind, can retain the Ashes with victory at The Oval. The world champions have won the last eight series between the sides, dating back to 1989.

	Scoreboard
	England 1st Innings
	Trescothick c Hayden b Warne	43
	Andrew Strauss c Katich b Warne	129
	MP Vaughan: c Clarke b Warne	11
	Ian Bell lbw b Warne	0
	K Pietersen b Warne	14
	A Flintoff c Warne b McGrath	72
	Paul Collingwood lbw b Tait	7
	Geraint Jones not out	21
	Ashley Giles not out	5
	Extras: (4b, 6lb, 7nb) 17
	Total: (for seven wickets) 319
	Overs: 88
	Fall of Wickets: 1-82, 2-102, 3-104, 4-131, 5-274, 6-289, 7-297
	Bowling: Glenn McGrath 19-5-48-1, Brett Lee 17-3-68-0 (3nb), Shaun Tait 15-1-61-1 (3nb), Shane Warne 34-4-118-5, Simon Katich 3-0-14-0
	Umpires: Billy Bowden, New Zealand, and Rudi Koertzen, South Africa
	TV Umpire: Jeremy Lloyds
	Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka

Strauss recorded his seventh Test Century and his second of the series, putting on 82 with Marcus Trescothick for the first wicket and 143 with all rounder Andrew Flintoff, who made 72, for the fifth.

England, having beefed up their batting at the expense of their bowling, opted to bat on a perfect strip and looked well-placed before Warne produced a 38-ball burst either side of lunch to take four wickets for 16.