Summary Michael Clarke faced 245 balls and hit 17 fours against England in second Ashes Test.
ADELAIDE, Australia (AFP) - Michael Clarke was dismissed for 148 to end a partnership record with Brad Haddin in Australia s first innings against England in the second Ashes Test on Friday.
The Australian skipper was caught by a diving Jimmy Anderson at mid-wicket to give debutant Ben Stokes his first Test wicket.
He faced 245 balls and hit 17 fours in his captain s knock.
Clarke, who scored his 26th Test ton and third in five Ashes Tests, put on 200 runs for the sixth wicket with Haddin -- the highest sixth-wicket stand in all Tests in Adelaide, eclipsing the 191 shared by Imran Khan and Wasim Akram for Pakistan in 1990.
Australia were 457 for six at the fall of Clarke s wicket after resuming at 273 for five at the start of the second day.
Clarke s imperious innings - his third hundred in as many Tests in Adelaide - ended innocuously on 148 (245 balls, 17 fours) when he bunted a good length ball to midwicket to give debutant Ben Stokes his first Test wicket.
Soon after drinks in the second session Australia was 6-458, with Brad Haddin on 90 (eight fours and three sixes).
In adding 200 for the sixth wicket, Clarke and Haddin have put their side in a commanding position.
Clarke unfurled some glorious cover and straight drives while Haddin has gone up a gear as he nears his second Test century at Adelaide Oval.
Resuming after lunch on 5-389, with Clarke on 109 and Haddin on 57, the Australian pair mixed resolute defence with sparkling strokeplay to defy the English attack for a third hour of the day.
They were aided in part by defensive fields set by Alastair Cook, the skipper intent on staunching the bleeding to keep his side in the Test and indeed the series.
Both batsmen milked the spinners for singles to long-off and deep point, minimising the risks that undid the five batsmen that fell yesterday.
But both also deftly found the soft spots in Cook s defensive field; whether it be Haddin s sweeps to the paddock at fine-leg, or Clarke late-cutting to an unpatrolled third man.
And when their conservatism prompted Cook to tighten the field, the Australians opened up. Haddin went from 67 to 77 in two balls when Cook dispensed with a man at deep midwicket for Monty Panesar.
Earlier, Clarke and Brad Haddin batted through a morning in which England took a wicket from a no-ball and all but lost the plot on the field.
Stokes let his captain down by bowling too short and wide to his field before - out of nowhere - he found Haddin s edge.
But joy turned to despair when replays showed it was a no-ball, and Haddin s lonely march back to the pavilion became a sheepish return to the crease.
Haddin and Stokes traded words at the end of the over, prompting umpire Marius Erasmus to step between the pair.
Clarke s century - from 175 balls and in 256 minutes - came from a neatly clipped two behind square, sending another big Adelaide Oval crowd into rapturous applause.
It was a classic Clarke hand, all dancing down to the spinners and playing impeccably straight to the quicks.
