Perth, Nov 2: A young Australian pace bowler, whose promising career was threatened by illness, ripped through England's batting today to put Western Australia (WA) in control of their four-day match with just one day remaining.Matthew Nicholson, 24, took a career-best seven for 77 to help dismiss England for 321. It left them 13 runs behind WA's first innings total of 334 for eight declared.WA's top order then piled on 170 runs for the loss of just one wicket to finish the penultimate day with a lead of 183.England started confidently when play resumed at the WACA. Nasser Hussain registered England's first individual century of the tour when he added the seven runs needed to his overnight score of 93.Hussain, who replaced the injured Alec Stewart as captain for the match, brought up his hundred off 229 balls, 17 of which were dispatched to the boundary.Hussain and Mark Ramprakash had put on 138 for the third wicket before Hussain departed, falling to Nicholson for 118.His departuretriggered a collapse in which England lost their last seven wickets for 91 runs.Ramprakash made a fine 81 but no-one else made it past 25.Nicholson, who made 58 not out in WA's first innings to eclipse his previous first-class best score of 10, took seven wickets in a row in his first major match in almost two years.WA opener Ryan Campbell was in brilliant touch during his team's second innings.The left-handed belted 117 of his side's 170 for one and was still unbeaten at the close.
