Australia four wickets from Ashes glory as England cling on

An unrelenting Australia were four wickets from retaining the Ashes at close of play in the third Test on Saturday as England clung to the dying hope that they could chase a record 435 to save the series.

England clawed their way to 207-6 to take it to a fifth day in Adelaide with Will Jacks on 11 and Jamie Smith two, still 228 runs from their target.

They lost big guns Zak Crawley (85), Joe Root (39), Harry Brook (30), and Ben Stokes (5) in the final session with Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins doing the damage.

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who made a century in the first innings, had another good day with his quick hands stumping Crawley off Lyon.

“I just thought Nathan was bowling really well and to continuing putting lots of energy on the ball,” said Carey

“He toiled away all day and finally got some reward. There’s enough in the pitch. We saw that, and finally he picked up a couple of late wickets.”

Carey expected England to fight till the bitter end on Sunday and said he was still not thinking about winning the Ashes.

“We’ll reflect on today and come up with plans for tomorrow.

“We know these guys are quality players right to the end, and we want to keep working hard and probably not look too far ahead.”

England must win to keep the five-match series alive after being crushed by eight wickets at Perth and Brisbane.

With attendance over the first four days swelling to more than 200,000 — a record for the Adelaide Oval which has been hosting Tests since 1884 — they face a daunting task.

No team has ever chased down more than 316 at the venue, while the biggest successful run chase in Test history was 418 by the West Indies against Australia at St. Johns in 2003.

England took six wickets before lunch to wrap up Australia’s second innings for 349 with Travis Head slamming 170 and Carey 72.

‘Very disappointing’

It left them with 10 minutes to bat before the break but they lost Ben Duckett in the second over as he edged Cummins to Marnus Labuschagne at second slip.

Out-of-form number three Ollie Pope was widely seen as on his last chance with Jacob Bethell waiting in the wings.

He failed to deliver again, gone for 17 with Labuschagne taking a stunning one-handed catch at full stretch in the slips, again off Cummins.

Crawley was watchful as he built a 78-run stand with Root, who needed a big score to save his side but was undone by Cummins again.

The Australian skipper removed him for a 13th time in Tests, more than any other bowler, with a furious Root berating himself after prodding at a full delivery and feathering to Carey.

Crawley brought up a well deserved 50 and with an uncharacteristically subdued Brook began a rebuild before his partner badly mistimed a reverse sweep and was bowled by a classic Lyon off-break.

With the pitch deteriorating, Lyon unleashed another trademark delivery to bowl Stokes, then tempted Crawley down the wicket to be stumped by Carey, leaving England’s Ashes campaign in tatters.

“Very disappointing, it’s an uphill battle from here, we’re staring down the barrel,”said Crawley.

“They are a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough against them. Obviously we have been short of our best, but credit to them.”

Head ovation

Australia resumed at 271-4 with Head on 142 and Carey 52 and they feasted early on some mediocre bowling.

Stokes didn’t turn over his arm on Friday with assistant coach Jeetan Patel saying he was “knackered” after a stoic 83 with the bat.

The England captain opened the attack on Saturday but Head quickly got to work and reached his 150 with a boundary through backward point, earning a standing ovation from his home fans.

Targeting a maiden double-century, Head pulled a short ball from Josh Tongue with Crawley in the deep doing well to get underneath it in glaring sun.

Carey was taken at slip by Brook off Stokes, with Josh Inglis (10) following, caught behind by Smith off Tongue.

The tail folded quickly with Tongue taking 4-70 and Bryson Carse 3-80.