Melbourne: Australian media acclaimed Shane Warne becoming the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets as Australia took an early grip on the fourth Ashes Test against England.

The mercurial leg-spinner, who will finish a fantastic 15-year Test playing career at next week's fifth Sydney Test, bowled England opener Andrew Strauss with a leg-break for his 700th Test wicket on Tuesday's opening day.
 

The 37-year-old Warne then added four more wickets to finish the England innings with 5-39 off 17.2 overs and swell his career tally to 704 wickets in his 144th Test match.

The Australian newspaper said Warne's legendary status in Test cricket stems from his ability to dominate and succeed when he has no right to.

 "It was as if he knew the overhead conditions and greenish colour on the pitch would ensure it was a day for those who landed the ball on the seam, not flicked it out of the back of the hand," the newspaper said.

"He will not remain Test cricket's leading wicket-taker for long, as Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan has 674 wickets and is closing in at remarkable speed.
 

"However, in virtually all other criteria it's difficult to argue against Warne being the greatest spin bowler the game has seen," he said.

The Daily Telegraph said the chilly wet opening day was not conducive for a leg-spinner.

"A green wicket, an icy day, a wet ball and a triumphant leg-spinner it embodied the way Shane Warne has changed cricket," it said.

"It was one of life's sweet coincidences that in taking his 700th wicket Warne gave us all a lesson on what's different about him to those who preceded him and the poor souls who will follow," he said.

"Yesterday was not a day for leg-spin. The ball was wet, the air was cold and Warne looked stiff as a post in his first over. But, as is most often the case, he came through it," he said.

The Australian newspaper said Warne's milestone before a record Ashes crowd of 89,155 will be long remembered by cricket fans.

"The series is officially dead, with Australia leading 3-0, and England is dying again after being bowled out for 159 on the opening day of the fourth Test, but everyone at the ground yesterday will carry Warne's moment forever," the newspaper said.

"It was not just the moment that Warne captured. He humiliated England, again, to finish with 5-39, the 11th time he had taken five wickets in an innings against the Old Enemy and 37th of his peerless career," he said.
 

When Warne came on to bowl in the 41st over of the innings the bars around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) emptied as drinkers bolted towards the action.

"It will go down as a minor miracle that nobody was trampled to death, but the herd's love of Warne comes as no surprise when you think of it. They are, after all, his people," The Australian said.

"It was to be a day you could tell the grandchildren about," he said.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh, writing in his column in the Daily Telegraph said England's batsmen half-expected the worst to happen on the first day's play.
 

"They just didn't look purposeful enough, as if half expecting the worst to happen," Waugh observed.

"The transformation of Paul Collingwood from a guy who scored a double-century in Adelaide to a vulnerable, nervous-looking player to me sums up the thought process of the team right now," he said.

"Their confidence couldn't have been helped by their best batsman, Pietersen, before the last day's play in Perth that 'Its becoming increasingly clear our best is not good enough against this great Aussie side," he said.

"A batsman with more than one thought on his mind will often wander down the wrong path," he said.