England sliding towards second Test defeat as Australia dominate at the Gabba

England suffered another dose of despair at the Gabba as Australia moved in for the kill on day three of the second Ashes Test.

The tourists were a distant second best in every way as they hobbled to the brink of a loss that would leave them 2-0 down with three to play. Their hopes of reclaiming the urn were fading faster than ever as they slumped to 134 for six, still 43 adrift.

It was abject viewing at a ground that has become synonymous with English heartache, Australia’s tailenders grinding the visiting attack into the Brisbane dirt.

Their last three wickets put on 128 runs as England’s weary bowlers struggled to make a dent against a lower-order who were taunting them with their mere presence.

In building a total of 511 and a lead of 177 they batted just long enough to use up the last of the natural light, then set about chopping down opponents who were unable to show the same diligence and dedication.

After an opening stand of 48, the wickets tumbled with an air of desperate inevitability, Zak Crawley’s 44 both a top score and a mirage.

None of the England batters came close to the 77 runs scored by Australia’s number nine Mitchell Starc and none ever looked like occupying the crease as long as the 72 balls faced by number 10 Scott Boland, who boasts a Test average of 7.54.

The seeds were sown in first session and a half, as the home side toyed with their prey, sapping their energy and guaranteeing themselves the perfect bowling conditions.

The tourists looked spent by the time they finally ended an Australian innings that had stretched longer and deeper than they could ever have feared as they resumed at 378 for six.

When England finally trudged from the field after 118 overs baking in the heat, the skies were darkening and the artificial lights were beginning to take over.

Australia had earned the right to cash their chips in perfect conditions and it qualified as a major surprise that there was no breakthrough in a short stint just before the interval.

Starc had taken a wicket in the first over of the previous three innings and must have fancied himself to keep the trend going against two players with plenty of shared scarring.

But Crawley and Ben Duckett confounded expectations, stroking 45 chanceless runs in six overs to give the travelling fans a false glimmer of hope. That kind of scoring was always going to be unsustainable and the change was swift and definitive.

Duckett (15) was bowled off the fifth ball he faced after the restart, Scott Boland getting one to scuttle through low and canon off the toe end. After a golden duck on day one and two drops in the field, Duckett will be happier than most to leave Queensland behind him.

Ollie Pope will also chalk it up as a wasted week after he backed up his first-innings nought with a harebrained knock of 26 built on the sandy foundations of impetuous flashes outside off stump. After a couple of let-offs he pushed a tame return catch back to Michael Neser, unwilling to commit fully to the shot.

Crawley showed greater authority but his dismissal was effectively a carbon copy of Pope’s, feeding Neser once again in his follow through. At 97 for three, the losses were becoming critical.

The escape route was getting narrower by the minute and the bulk of the burden lay on Joe Root, fresh from his long-awaited maiden hundred on Australian turf.

He went undefeated for 138 over almost six-and-a-half hours in the first innings but could not tap back into that groove and could not shift the dial before Starc got the best of him.

Propping forward in defence, he grazed through to the keeper and was sent on his way on review. The crowd that had given him a sporting ovation when he reached his ton on the opening night roared him back to the pavilion this time.

Harry Brook never looked like shutting them up, waving the bat liberally and surviving a big appeal for caught behind immediately before falling in exactly the same fashion to Boland.

England’s top five were all back in the shed and the deficit was still north of 50.

Jamie Smith was last to go, driving at Starc and nicking a third catch to Carey, needlessly reviewing at the behest of his shellshocked captain Ben Stokes.