Ben Stokes’ England on Cusp of Losing Ashes as Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon Stand Up for Australia

Australia: An Australian side that just refuses to give up was just four wickets away from securing the Ashes on the final day of the Third Test on Saturday, and the chances of England bouncing back to save the series looked slimmer than ever.

England had clawed their way to 207-6 at the end of play 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.

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England must win to keep the five-match series alive after being crushed by eight wickets at Perth and Brisbane. Australia, as holders, only need a draw to retain the urn.

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 faced a daunting task.

No team has ever managed to chase down more than 316 at this ground and the biggest successful run chase in Test cricket history was when the West Indies came from behind to beat Australia at St John's back in 2003 with a total of 418.

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

It left them with a mere 10 minutes to bat before the break when disaster struck in just the second over when Ben Duckett - who was on four - managed to get an edge on a delivery from Cummins and Labuschagne was there at second slip to gobble it up.

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Number three Ollie Pope has struggled all series and 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.

Watchful opener Crawley managed to get a bit of a lifeline going with a 78 run partnership with Root, who desperately needed a few runs to keep England in the game but he was completely out of his depth against Cummins, who got the better of him for a thirteenth time in Test cricket. Root was pretty furious with himself after prodding at a full delivery and somehow getting it to edge to Carey.

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 however, had managed to get to 50 and he was going great guns with his uncharacteristically subdued partner Brook, when they started to rebuild a bit - but before long Brook badly mis-timed a reverse sweep and was bowled by a classic Lyon off-break.

With the pitch looking more and more like a deck of cards, it seemed Lyon then produced another trademark delivery to bowl Stokes and then tempted Crawley down the wicket, where he got stumped by Carey, and that's pretty much put paid to England's chances of keeping the Ashes.

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 the glaring sun.

Carey added 20 as he set his sights on back-to-back centuries after an emotional first innings 106.

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

With the new ball taken, Brook collected another slip catch to remove Cummins (6), this time off Brydon Carse who trapped Lyon lbw next ball.

Scott Boland was the last man out, caught and bowled by Jofra Archer with Tongue taking 4-70.

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