Collingwood and Bell rescue England

ADELAIDE, Dec 1 (Reuters) Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell completed watchful half-centuries to help England recover from the loss of two early wickets to reach 144 for two at tea on the first day of the second Ashes test today.

The pair shared an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 99 to steady the England innings after openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook departed cheaply before lunch.

Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark dismissed Strauss for 14 and Cook for 27 to leave the tourists in trouble at 45 for two when the in-form Bell and Collingwood, who also made fifties in the first test, came together.

Strauss departed with the total on 32 when he miscued an attempted flick and chipped the ball straight to Damien Martyn at mid-on, who took the catch diving forward.

Cook joined him the pavilion when he played away from a ball angled across his body and got a faint edge to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist to give Clark his ninth wicket of the series.

Collingwood and Bell took England through to lunch on 58 for two and added another 86 runs in the middle session to continue their impressive form in the series.

Bell top-scored with 50 in England's miserable first innings total of 157 in last week's first test in Brisbane and Collingwood's 96 helped the tourists reach a more respectable 370 in the second knock.

Both brought up their half-centuries in the last over before tea on Friday with singles off leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Collingwood reached the milestone first off 113 balls and Bell joined him off the very next delivery off 140 balls, giving England the platform to build a bigger total after Andrew Flintoff won the toss and elected to bat on Australia's friendliest batting pitch.

Strauss and Cook safely negotiated the first hour, seeing off Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath's opening spells before losing their concentration.

Both teams retained the same starting lineups that played in Brisbane despite speculation that changes were likely.

McGrath was cleared to play after injuring his heel in Brisbane while England resisted the temptation to add Monty Panesar as a second spinner at the expense of one of the seamers.

REUTERS PM PM1127