Australia have retained the Ashes with an 82-run win in a gripping third Test at Adelaide Oval, holding off a bold England run chase that kept home fans on edge deep into the final day.
Set a daunting 435 to win, England were bowled out for 352 despite resilient half-centuries from Zak Crawley, Jamie Smith and Will Jacks. With the victory, Pat Cummins’ side move 3–0 up in the series, ensuring the urn stays in Australian hands and extending England’s winless run in Australia, which stretches back to the 2010–11 tour.
England’s chase turns from belief to heartbreak
England resumed the final day on 207/6 with Jamie Smith and Will Jacks at the crease, knowing they needed something extraordinary to reel in the remaining 228 runs.
The pair began positively, playing carefully against Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green before Smith broke the tension with a slog-swept six off Lyon, followed by another towering blow off Green. The partnership grew steadily past fifty, and when Smith reached his maiden Ashes half-century – 50 off 80 balls – with a crunching drive off Cummins, the Australian attack briefly looked rattled.
Jacks joined in to punish any loose deliveries, and the stand swelled to 91, briefly swinging momentum towards England. But the counter-attack proved short-lived. Smith, riding his luck once too often, miscued an ambitious drive off Mitchell Starc and was caught by Cummins for a fluent 60 (83 balls, seven fours, two sixes), leaving England 285/7 and Australia breathing again.
Jacks found another ally in Brydon Carse, and together they stitched a stubborn 52-run partnership that dragged the target below three figures. Carse survived a close lbw shout against Cummins, while Jacks swept and nudged his way towards what England hoped would be a match-defining innings.
Starc, however, broke the stand with the help of a brilliant low catch from Marnus Labuschagne at slip, ending Jacks’ fighting 47 from 137 deliveries. From there, the end came quickly: Starc and Scott Boland cleaned up the tail, England slipping from 337/8 to 352 all out.
Cummins (3/48), Starc (3/62) and Lyon (3/77) shared the spoils, each producing crucial spells just as England’s belief flickered into life.
Head and Carey break England before the bowlers finish the job
The platform for Australia’s win had been laid a day earlier by Travis Head and Alex Carey, whose fifth-wicket partnership in the second innings effectively batted England out of the match.
Australia had been wobbling at 94/4 in the first innings before Usman Khawaja (82) and Carey’s maiden Ashes century (106) hauled them to 371. Mitchell Starc added a rapid 54 to push the total beyond England’s reach, despite Jofra Archer’s excellent 5/53.
England’s first innings reply looked in tatters at 168/8 before captain Ben Stokes (83) and Archer (51) combined for a gutsy 106-run stand that limited Australia’s lead to 85 and kept the contest alive.
Any hope of a dramatic turnaround was then dismantled by Head and Carey in Australia’s second dig. Coming together at 94/4 again, the pair added 162 with a mix of control and aggression. Head’s 170 from 219 balls (16 fours, two sixes) and Carey’s composed 72 off 128 deliveries propelled Australia to 349 and left England chasing a record 435 for victory.
Josh Tongue (4/70) and Carse (3/80) offered resistance with the ball. Still, by the time Australia’s innings ended, England faced both a mountainous target and an Adelaide pitch offering variable bounce and turn.
Crawley stands tall as top order crumbles
England’s chase began shakily. Ben Duckett (4) and Ollie Pope (17) fell cheaply, leaving the visitors 31/2 and heavily reliant on their middle order.
Joe Root (39) and Harry Brook (30) both made promising starts, combining in a 78-run stand, but neither could convert under pressure from Lyon and Cummins. When Crawley, who had anchored the innings with a superb 85 off 151 balls (eight fours), also fell during a collapse that took England from 177/3 to 194/6, Australia seemed set for a comfortable final day.
Instead, Smith and Jacks dragged the match back into the realm of possibility before Australia’s attack finally broke their resistance.
Ashes stay in Australian hands
The victory gives Australia an unassailable 3–0 lead in the five-match series and reaffirms their dominance at home. England’s wait to win an Ashes series in Australia now stretches beyond a decade, despite their attacking “Bazball” approach producing moments of real threat in Adelaide.
For Cummins and his team, the match underlined both the depth of the batting lineup – with Khawaja, Head, Carey and Starc all contributing – and the relentless quality of an attack built around Cummins, Starc and Lyon.
With two Tests still to play, attention will now turn to whether Australia can complete a series sweep and whether England can salvage pride with a consolation win.
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