Adelaide: Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen both hit unbeaten centuries to bat England into a position of strength on the second day of the second Ashes cricket Test.

The Australian bowling attack was rendered innocuous on a feather-bed Adelaide Oval pitch as England looked to build a big total in perfect batting conditions here on Saturday.

At lunch England, trailing 1-0 in the series, had strengthened their grip on the game at 347 for three with Collingwood on 135 and Pietersen on 102.

The pair had put on an unbroken stand of 189 runs for the fourth wicket in 236 minutes.

Pietersen claimed the second century in his last three Ashes Tests off a belligerent 149 balls including 10 boundaries and a crashing six off Shane Warne.

The fearless right-hander clubbed Glenn McGrath for three fours in one over and raised his hundred with a scampering single off Stuart Clark around 40 minutes before lunch.

He ran down the field holding his bat and helmet aloft in jubilation before a warm embrace from Collingwood on attaining his sixth century in his 20th Test.

It was Pietersen's 158 off 187 balls in the drawn 2005 fifth Test at The Oval that helped England clinch the Ashes, which stands as his highest score in Tests.

His superiority on a benign pitch had the Australians looking at chasing a formidable first innings total.

Test cricket's greatest wicket-taker Warne even resorted to bowling around the wicket and outside leg-stump in an attempt to get Pietersen to lose patience and commit a rash shot. He went to lunch with a century of his own at 0-104 off 34 overs.

Collingwood brought up his third Test century with an off-drive off Brett Lee for three in the second over of the day.

Pietersen ran up to embrace the popular Collingwood, who was out for 96 in the second innings of the first Brisbane Test.

Collingwood raised his first hundred against Australia in 283 minutes with seven boundaries off 203 balls.

He scored 134 not out against India in the first Test at Nagpur last March and 186 against Pakistan at Lord's in July.

Australia thought they had Pietersen out on his overnight score of 60 with a confident appeal for caught behind off Lee.

Lee ran triumphantly down the pitch acclaiming the catch, but West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor remained unmoved and television replays suggested Pietersen's bat narrowly missed the ball.

Skipper Ricky Ponting had Stuart Clark bowling the opening over of the day after surprisingly only using him for two overs after tea Friday.

Clark had been his team's best bowler with the wickets of England openers Andrew Strauss (14) and Alastair Cook (27) in the morning session.

McGrath, who had to pass a fitness test on a heel injury to play, bowled only three overs before he left the field for a time before lunch.