Australia need four wickets to secure an Ashes series victory with two matches to spare, with Nathan Lyon taking three quick wickets to blunt a short-lived England fightback on day four of the third Test.

Australia started the penultimate day of play at the Adelaide Oval with a 356-run advantage, with England ultimately set a target of 435.

Ben Stokes returned to bowl seven overs in the early stages, having not bowled on day three, and England captured the final six Australian wickets for 38 runs.

Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse each took two of those wickets, with the former finally bringing Travis Head's knock of 170 to an end. Stokes also got involved, having Alex Carey (72) caught by Harry Brook.

But England's world-record chase was in trouble from the eighth ball as Ben Duckett (4) made a poor decision to swing at Pat Cummins' delivery and edged through to Marnus Labuschagne.

The same duo combined for the hosts to remove Ollie Pope (17) eight overs later, with Labuschagne getting the credit after flinging himself to his left to take a spectacular catch.

Cummins then got Joe Root (39) – for the 13th time in Test cricket – to drop England to 109-3, though Zak Crawley and Brook put on a 68-run partnership to steady the ship somewhat.

But the tourists then lost three more wickets for a mere 17 runs, with all of them falling to Lyon.

Brook was cleaned up for 30 before a superb spin delivery sent Stokes (5) walking, and after putting together a score of 85 from 151 balls faced, Crawley (85) was stumped by Carey after being tempted into the drive by Lyon.  

England now need 228 runs to deny Australia a comprehensive 11-day series victory, with the hosts hunting just four wickets on Sunday.

Stumps in Adelaide. pic.twitter.com/8X99JyWRPX

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 20, 2025

Data Debrief: Cummins joins Lyon in climbing the charts

Though England avoided the ignominy of losing the Ashes within just 10 days of cricket, that will be scant consolation to captain Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Australia already had something to build on, with Head's mammoth score of 170 – his fourth haul of 100-plus at the Adelaide Oval – helping them set the tourists a daunting target. Only Michael Clarke (seven) and Ricky Ponting (six) have more Test centuries at the venue.

And the hosts did not let up with the ball in hand, either, with captain Cummins ending the day with figures of 24-3 and Lyon going 3-64 following his trio of late wickets.

Lyon passed Glenn McGrath to go second in Australia's all-time wicket-takers list during the first England innings (now on 567), and Cummins is now into the top six with 315, having passed Mitchell Johnson (313).

Crawley joined Stokes as one of just two England players with multiple scores of 50-plus in this Ashes series, but that stat only serves to prove how ineffective England's batting has been.