Australia look to be on the verge of a fifth test win after enforcing a follow-on for England.
>>REPORT: Aussies on cusp of dead rubber win
England’s only hope at this point is for significant rain delays to give them a chance at a draw.
England were blown away in their first innings by Peter Siddle and Mitchell Marsh and now must dig deep to make a comeback against Australia in the fifth Ashes 2015 Test. The third day of this fifth Test match will be played at The Oval on Saturday and you can follow our live blog from 8:00pm AEST.
Flat pitch, runs on the board and the city of London, that’s all that was needed for Australia to dominate in this series it seems.
After piling on 481 in their first innings, Australia bowled themselves into a winning position on the second day and will now hope they can finish off the careers of the captain Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers on a high.
England, who had gotten themselves to 0-30 at one stage in reply, lost Alastair Cook off the last delivery before the tea break and then capitulated to 8-107 by stumps. Unable to face either the spin of Lyon or the seam of Siddle and Marsh, the English batsmen looked like their jobs for the series had already been done.
With that being their mental state, they also came up against two bowlers with a lot to prove – the Siddle selection has come under a lot of criticism, although for no fault of his own, while Marsh was returning back to the side after having been dropped from the previous game for no plausible reason.
And the pair combined and gave the English batsmen the working-over of the series.
None of the batsmen got to more than Cook’s 22, with Adam Lyth, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes getting into double-figures but falling soon after. Siddle got prodigious movement off the pitch from the word go while Marsh got it in the right areas and ensured there was just the right amount of deviation to keep the batsmen on their toes.
Earlier, Australia lost four wickets in the first session and looked to be in a danger of being bowled out for less than 400 but a late flourish from the bats of Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc ensured no such heroics from England.
The pair added 91 runs for the eighth wicket which pushed Australia towards the 500-run mark and while Smith (146) and Starc (58 from 52) went in quick succession after that, they did enough to ensure Australia hadn’t lost the momentum.
The only question facing Clarke now is whether to enforce the follow-on if they manage to get themselves a lead of around 350. Clarke doesn’t like to put the sides back in and there are two factors to consider – the weather and getting himself and Chris Rogers their last innings in Tests.
Despite there being a forecast for some rain later in the Test, there’s a good chance Clarke will want to bat again, score a quick-fire 200 as a team and set England an improbable chase. England just need to bat a lot better in their second dig, whenever that comes around, and hope for weather to bail them out.
Follow the live scores and blog of this third day of the fifth Ashes 2015 Test between England and Australia from 8:00pm AEST on Saturday and post your comments in the section below.
peter mangan
Guest
too many players playing attacking strokes when they should be defending,they must curb their instincts to swipe at every ball and learn to get in line more..
Scott Pryde
Expert
What's this? Another language to say goodbye! Cheers mate, good call. Australia should wrap this thing up pretty quickly tomorrow. Or will Rahul Dravid step up?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So that is the end of that. A long, grinding day's play that saw England lose eight wickets in all including two in the first dig. Cook led by example, fought hard with a 234-ball 85 but fell just before close. England have batted out 88 overs and scored runs in a trickle (245 runs in the day) but that's because their sole purpose today was to bat the game into the fourth day. Why is that so important? Because the forecast for the fourth and the fifth day is for rain. I am not sure whether it will rain throughout the day though, so Australia still could have a lot of time to get these last four wickets out of the way. If things go as scripted, we are looking at just one more day of the Ashes 2015. A bitter-sweet feeling that. England will hope to extend it into the afternoon when it could start raining. Will be there tomorrow with whatever transpire and hope to see you around too. Sayonara!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Right, so Wood has managed to play out the last over of the day from Starc. Couple of good deliveries in it too but Wood's kept them out. And with England six down, don't think Australia can claim the extra 30 minutes.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
One over from Smith and he's off. In comes Mitchell Starc and he will be bowling at Wood. If Starc can get Wood out, who knows if Clarke can also claim an extra half hour.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
A night watchman has been sent in, in the form of Mark Wood. At the other end, Buttler plays a nervous prod at Lyon, gets an inside edge on to his pads and it fails to pop up to the short-leg fielder. Buttler responds by jumping down the track next ball and crashing it through wide mid-on for a four. 6/203 in 78.
JimmyB
Guest
What a shame. Great knock from Cook, just about sums up the luck he's had this series, getting out to an 'occasional purveyor of filth.'
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Gone! Gone! Gone! Smith has Cook! Not a Titanic-like tragedy but whoa, that's terribly sad for Cook and England. He has basically stonewalled everything that has been thrown at him today, batted out 234 deliveries and then gets out to the part-time spin of Smith. There was nothing in his previous five deliveries to suggest that Smith had once been touted as a Shane Warne-replacement. But the last delivery would have made Warne proud. It's pitched in line with the stumps and spun, I suppose it dipped well too and drifted away before spinning back into the left-handed Cook. He dabbed at it, got an edge and was caught at short-leg!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Four for Buttler! Waist-high full-toss and smacked away through the covers for a four.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Steven Smith gets the ball now. Long time since he bowled!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Two from the Lyon over, which Cook gets by clipping it to the fine-leg fielder. Hops over to 83 with that brace. 5/172 in 76.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
A single first ball off Starc for Cook and that's followed by a couple down to fine-leg for Buttler. Another over ticks by, the stand moves up to 50 and they have exhausted 23 overs in the day. Four more to go, with 11 minutes remaining.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
A single for Cook in that Lyon over takes him to 80. And then Buttler sees out the remaining three deliveries. 5/187 in 74, trail by 145. Five to go tonight.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Here we go, Nathan Lyon has been given the ball now. Might just get those six overs in the remaining 20 minutes.
Phil
Guest
Starc really needs to learn to bowl consistent line and length. Far too many loose wide ones and big attempted yorkers.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
A couple of twos for Buttler, much more confidently played off Starc, before he gets an edge to a delivery angling away. Still manages to play it softly enough for the ball to bounce in front of the slips. That's the only four runs in that Starc over too. 5/186 in 73, trail by 146. Six overs to be bowled today, 20 minutes remain.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Ooh, beaten! A rare delivery that beats the outside edge of the Cook bat. Mitchell M gets it it swing away and Cook was sucked into playing at it. Beats the outside edge. And there's one that's bowled wide outside off and swinging further away to earn them five wides. The batsmen could never get to it and as it turns out, neither the keeper nor slips got close. 5/182 in the 72nd
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Three from Starc's over including a firm push down the ground for a couple for Buttler. Starc was also looking to tempt him by bowling one fuller and wider and Butter, for a fleeting moment, thought of it. And then let it go. 5/177 in 71.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Another change. Mitchell Starc gets the ball and he has a leg-slip in place for Cook. Clarke probably just trying something different here.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Maiden for Marsh as Buttler gets to his 50. Balls faced that is. 5/174 in 70, trail by 158.