Overview
- Pat Cummins marked his Test return from a back injury with three top-order wickets, removing Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root for the 13th time in Tests.
- Nathan Lyon’s late spell swung the day, dismissing Harry Brook and Ben Stokes before Zak Crawley was stumped, as England lost three wickets for 17 runs.
- England closed on 207-6, still 228 runs short, with Will Jacks on 11 and Jamie Smith on 2 after a chase that briefly steadied through Crawley’s 85 and Root’s 39.
- Travis Head’s 170 and Alex Carey’s 72 lifted Australia to 349 in their second innings, setting a target of 435 after England had earlier taken six wickets in the morning to wrap up the hosts’ innings.
- The target exceeds any successful fourth-innings chase in Test history (418) and the Adelaide Oval mark of 316, underlining the long odds against an England rescue.