Never say die? (-worma)

With Freddie its rather bringing the dead back to life, almost. Over past few months he has repeatedly 'set-up' the game for his team-mates to take over and close. And today he did it again. He was England's answer today to Pakistan's revitalized Shoaib of day 3.

Andrew Flintoff is a talisman like few others. Your average genie grants just three wishes, but Flintoff keeps on providing, rub after rub after rub. Today his two-wicket burst bore comparison with a similarly totemic over at Edgbaston last summer. Then as now, England needed inspiration as their prospects were beginning to drift, and on both occasions the response was an unanswerable ramraid from Flintoff, straight through the heart of the opposition batting.

For me, his most amazing quality is his capability to dig deep into the reserves, and come out with something for the special occasion.

"We saw in the first innings how he can take a game away quickly, so it was quite crucial to get him out cheaply," said Flintoff, who had been nearing the end of his spell until his breakthrough gave him a second wind. "It had crossed my mind [to come off], but I asked for one more over because the ball was reversing a bit and I'd hit quite a nice rhythm. I felt I had another couple of overs in me and just wanted to carry on bowling."

And indeed, the English team proves again that it cannot win or lose or even draw a match in a straightforward manner.