England hope they have tamed Shaun Tait as they seek to restate their supremacy over Australia in tomorrow's fifth and final match of their one-day series at Lord's. Tait's return to ODIs after a 16-month hiatus has coincided with an Australian resurgence. England hung on to win by one wicket at Old Trafford, a third successive victory that wrapped up the series, despite Tait's impact as Australia opted to replace the injured Nathan Hauritz's off-spin with the fragile Tait's extreme pace. Tait then bowled Andrew Strauss, the England captain, as Australia won the fourth ODI at the Oval by 78 runs.
But Strauss senses he and his team have reattuned themselves to the threat posed by one of the world's quickest bowlers, and his slingy action. "Tait is quick - and over the first couple of games it has taken us a while to get used to his action again, because the trajectory he fires the ball at is different to most bowlers," said Strauss. "The speedgun says he's right up there [as one of the world's fastest].
"But express bowlers need to put the ball in the right place, otherwise they can be expensive. Tait has done that pretty well, but we believe there are still opportunities to score off him if he doesn't get it quite right." * PA
