The Ashes:England squandered their best opportunity for decades to exploit Australian stage fright at Lord's and establish a dominant position in the second Ashes Test. After 75 years without victory over Australia at the home of cricket, England could not have wished for a better start after openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook forged a record-breaking 196-run stand.
The tourists also lost one of only four frontline bowlers to injury but England suffered another batting collapse and stuttered to 364 for six at the close, despite an unbeaten 161 from captain Strauss.
It was as stunning a turnaround from Australia as it was a dramatic collapse by England, whose failure to build a major score on a batsman-friendly wicket almost cost them in the opening Test at Cardiff.
Australia had named an unchanged line-up, which included seven players making their first Test appearance at Lord's, and their inexperience showed during the opening session.
Main strike bowler Mitchell Johnson found it a particular struggle and conceded 53 from his first eight overs while Peter Siddle's opening eight cost 34 runs.
Swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus at least provided some control, but such was the inconsistency of his partners, captain Ricky Ponting was forced to turn to the off-spin of Nathan Hauritz earlier than planned.
Hauritz responded to his critics with an excellent performance in Cardiff but he was forced out of the action prematurely on Thursday after dislocating his right middle finger attempting to catch a fierce Strauss drive.
That missed chance on 52, shortly after lunch, was the only one Strauss offered during his innings and it forced Australia to rely on the part-time spin of Marcus North and Michael Clarke.
The hosts were so dominant during the opening stand - the highest by an England opening pair in a Lord's Ashes Test, after eclipsing the 182 forged by Herbert Sutcliffe and Jack Hobbs in 1926 - it was almost a surprise when it was finally broken.
Essex left-hander Cook had played one of his more fluent innings, hitting 18 fours in his 95, when he was deceived by Johnson delivering a rare straight delivery and caught lbw on his back pad.
But with nearly half the day's overs still remaining, England would have hoped to have built on their partnership. Instead, they squandered the opportunity by losing four middle-order wickets for just 66 runs.
Ravi Bopara invited further debate about his ability to bat at number three against the best sides with a flashy but all-too-brief innings of 18 before he fell lbw to a Hilfenhaus inswinger.
It was the dismissal of Kevin Pietersen, however, just four overs after tea which really began England's demise.
Pietersen pushed forward to seamer Peter Siddle and gave a low catch to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who had struggled until then and conceded 15 byes during the day.
Paul Collingwood had been the inspiration behind England's great escape in Cardiff with a 343-minute innings which took them to the brink of safety, but this time he looked uncomfortable during a 45-minute stay.
He was more culpable than any other batsman in the middle order after advancing down the pitch to Clarke and picking out mid-on just over an hour before the close.
It exposed wicketkeeper Matt Prior with a new ball due and he, perhaps seduced by the ease Strauss appeared to playing, was bowled by Johnson attempting to drive aggressively.
Just a day after announcing he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the series, Andrew Flintoff was always guaranteed a warm reception with the majority of the packed Lord's crowd.
His innings began promisingly enough when he clipped Johnson through mid-wicket to get off the mark with a boundary, but he fell just three overs later when he pushed outside off-stump and edged to second slip.
England held out after the new ball was taken with five overs remaining and Strauss also passed 5,000 Test runs. His efforts ensured England passed 300 in the first innings of a Lord's Ashes Test for the first time since 1975.
But with England having not tasted success over Australia at the ground since 1934, Strauss will need no reminding that his side were 336 for seven in Cardiff last week before being outplayed for the remainder of the match.