A dominant Australia collected the last four wickets they needed Sunday to win the third Test and retain the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket, crushing the dreams of an England side who finally showed some fight.
England’s dogged resistance on day five at Adelaide Oval lasted into the second session before Scott Boland removed Josh Tongue for an 82-run victory to ensure the famous urn remains in Australian hands.
The tourists needed a win to keep the five-match series alive after being crushed by eight wickets at Perth and Brisbane, with two more Tests still to play at Melbourne and Sydney.
But despite showing more grit, they were again outplayed by an Australian team who suffered a setback with spin wizard Nathan Lyon hurting his hamstring and hobbling off.
Chasing 435 was always going to be a huge challenge, with no side ever reeling in more than 418 to win in Test history, but England at least gave it a crack as they scored 352 all out.
Their demise in just 11 days is the joint second quickest in more than a century since the 1921 series was completed in eight days, with their “Bazball” style of ultra-attacking cricket exposed.
England’s capitulation over three Tests is a far cry from the pre-Ashes hype where they were touted as having their best chance in a generation to win a series in Australia.
And it made a mockery of former fast bowler Stuart Broad’s claim that the hosts had their weakest side in 15 years, written off by others as a “Dad’s Army”.
The reality for Ben Stokes’s men is that England have now gone 18 Tests since winning in Australia, dating back to their last series victory there in 2010-11.
Their last three trips yielded one-sided scorelines of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0, with more of the same on the cards unless there is a dramatic shift in their fortunes.
– ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ –
They resumed on 207-6 with Will Jacks on 11 and Jamie Smith two.
Smith showed early intent by slog-sweeping Lyon over deep midwicket for six then banged another off Cameron Green as the Barmy Army fans broke into Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”.
After four days of searing heat and sunshine, the lights were on with dark clouds looming and after 40 minutes the players went off as fine rain returned.
It was a passing shower and they were back out 40 minutes later with lunch pushed back by half an hour.
Lyon limped off soon after the restart after pulling a hamstring in sliding to save a boundary.
He was sent for scans and ruled out of the rest of the Test, later seen on crutches with rest of the series for him in peril.
When Mitchell Starc took the new ball, Smith began hitting out, crunching two fours in a row, and it proved his downfall when he skied to Pat Cummins at midwicket.
Will Jacks produced his highest Test score of 47 and steered England’s chase below 100.
But he fell to another spectacular catch from Marnus Labuschange, diving to his left in front of wicketkeeper Alex Carey after an edge off Starc.
Starc struck again to send Jofra Archer packing before Boland took out Tongue, sparking huge celebrations.
England took six wickets before lunch on Saturday to wrap up Australia’s second innings for 349 with Travis Head slamming 170.
They then survived for two sessions, but the wheels came off courtesy of Lyon.
He bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes before tempting Zak Crawley down the wicket to be stumped by Alex Carey for 85, with Cummins accounting for danger man Joe Root on 39.
It was left to Smith and Jacks to ensure it would go to a fifth day.
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