Flintoff bowls England to famous victory

By John Mehaffey

LONDON (Reuters) - Andrew Flintoff bowled with furious pace and sustained hostility Monday to propel England to their first Ashes win over Australia at Lord's since 1934.

Flintoff bowled unchanged from the Pavilion end to finish on the honours' board with five for 92 as England wrapped up the second Ashes test by 115 runs before lunch on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Only eight days ago England needed their last-wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar to bat through 11.3 overs to salvage the first test in Cardiff. Now they believe they can emulate the 2005 heroes who regained the Ashes from Australia in the greatest series ever staged.

Three survivors from the fifth and final test at the Oval in 2005 played significant roles at Lord's.

Captain Andrew Strauss seized the initiative after Cardiff to score 161 in England's first innings and Paul Collingwood completed his third half-century of the series in the second.

Then there was Flintoff.

The giant Lancastrian announced last week he would retire from test cricket at the end of the series after four injury-ravaged years since he touched the heights as an all-rounder in 2005.

Monday he showed no ill-effects from the troubled right knee which required an operation this year to bowl as fast a spell as any in his career after dismissing both Australian openers on the previous day.