Australia left it late but broke the brave batting resistance of England to retain the Ashes with a Test to spare.
England - 301 & 197 / 497-8 dec & 186-6 dec - Australia
Australia finally broke England's dogged resistance for a 185-run win that sees them retain the Ashes.
The ninth-wicket partnership of Jack Leach and Craig Overton survived for a nervy 14 overs, during which the Old Trafford crowd steadily increased in volume and belief.
Leach then scooped leg-spinner Marnus Labuschagne to short leg before Overton was lbw to Josh Hazlewood with 13.3 overs of the day's 98 still to play, sparking celebrations from Australia.
England began on 18-2, presumably oblivious to the target of 383 and looking to bat the remainder of the day to leave the series 1-1 going to The Oval.
Joe Denly made 53 with Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler thinking better of big hitting with some brave defence, while Overton faced 105 balls at the crease.
But Australia's attack was too much to handle, with Pat Cummins ending with 4-43, and his side have retained the urn in England for the first time since 2001.
If England win the final Test, they will preserve the record of not having lost a home Test series against any team since 2014.
After the World Cup final and the Headingley Test, it was probably too much to ask for England to serve up another miraculous sunday comeback.
The first ball of the day was met with a forward defence by Denly, cheered by a crowd that was willing England on, with the Kent man registering a second half-century in as many matches by surviving some close calls.
Roy made a patient 31 from 67 balls before Cummins bowled him, with the same bowler having Ben Stokes caught behind for one.
Denly punched Nathan Lyon to short leg after lunch, but England were not wilting just yet.
Buttler and Bairstow used up 14 overs, and 21 with Overton - the two of them were roared back out to the crease after tea.
When Buttler played no shot on his 111th ball to a Hazlewood inswinger, England would still not lie down.
Leach came to the crease - swapping places with Stuart Broad at number 10 - to face the second new ball.
Each defence, glasses wipe and new pair of gloves brought the biggest cheers from the crowd, knowing that overs were being lost with each little delay.
Leach was caught by Matthew Wade ending a 51-ball stay to deflate the Manchester crowd, and Overton, who had successfully reviewed being out lbw to Cummins earlier, suffered the same fate to Hazlewood and the review couldn't save him this time.
Cummins had a hat-trick ball last night after he removed Rory Burns and Joe Root, and the number one ranked bowler led the Australian attack once more today.
Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc worked alongside Cummins to test England's patience, rotating at the opposite end to Lyon, with the off-spinner struggling to provide a constant threat, but accounted for Denly with one that bounced and Archer with one that emphatically didn't.
Bairstow was trapped leg before by a Starc nip-backer, and with the new ball after 58 overs, Hazlewood produced the swinging beauty that dismissed Buttler.
The pacemen began to tire against the stoic Overton and Leach, so Australia turned to Labuschagne who got a breakthrough in his first over before Hazlewood's lbw on Overton sparked wild celebrations.
Only one touring team in the past 18 years have ended the series with the Ashes.
England's achievement of 2010-11 has been matched by this Australia side, in an impressive turnaround from the ball-tampering scandal 18 months ago.
They have been taunted by home crowds throughout the World Cup and this series, none more so than the captain at the time Steve Smith.
He responded by bettering his run total from the last series down under with 671 in just five innings, supported by a pacebowling masterclass from Cummins and Hazlewood.
But for Stokes, Australia would have secured the Ashes at Headingley, while only rain denied England an almost certain win at Lord's.
England lost James Anderson to injury after four overs on the first day at Edgbaston, who surely would have had a huge impact on the series had he been fit.
But in a battle of two frail batting line-ups, Smith has been the gamechanger.
SCORECARD
Australia won the toss and decided to bat
Australia won by 185 runs
Australia First Innings
Batsman: How Out - Bowler / Runs / Balls / SR (4s, 6s)
Harris: lbw - b Broad / 13 / 24 / 54.17 (1, 0)
Warner: c Bairstow - b Broad / 0 / 2 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Labuschagne: b Overton / 67 / 128 / 52.24 (10, 0)
Smith: c Denly - b Root / 211 / 319 / 66.14 (24, 2)
Head: lbw - b Broad / 19 / 22 / 86.36 (3, 0)
Wade: c Root - b Leach / 16 / 45 / 35.56 (2, 0)
Paine: c Bairstow - b Overton / 58 / 127 / 45.67 (8, 0)
Cummins: c Stokes - b Leach / 4 / 9 / 44.44 (1, 0)
Starc: not out / 54 / 58 / 93.10 (7, 2)
Lyon: not out / 26 / 26 / 100.00 (4, 0)
 |
| Photo from The Telegraph |
Australia finally broke England's dogged resistance for a 185-run win that sees them retain the Ashes.
The ninth-wicket partnership of Jack Leach and Craig Overton survived for a nervy 14 overs, during which the Old Trafford crowd steadily increased in volume and belief.
Leach then scooped leg-spinner Marnus Labuschagne to short leg before Overton was lbw to Josh Hazlewood with 13.3 overs of the day's 98 still to play, sparking celebrations from Australia.
England began on 18-2, presumably oblivious to the target of 383 and looking to bat the remainder of the day to leave the series 1-1 going to The Oval.
Joe Denly made 53 with Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler thinking better of big hitting with some brave defence, while Overton faced 105 balls at the crease.
But Australia's attack was too much to handle, with Pat Cummins ending with 4-43, and his side have retained the urn in England for the first time since 2001.
If England win the final Test, they will preserve the record of not having lost a home Test series against any team since 2014.
After the World Cup final and the Headingley Test, it was probably too much to ask for England to serve up another miraculous sunday comeback.
The first ball of the day was met with a forward defence by Denly, cheered by a crowd that was willing England on, with the Kent man registering a second half-century in as many matches by surviving some close calls.
Roy made a patient 31 from 67 balls before Cummins bowled him, with the same bowler having Ben Stokes caught behind for one.
Denly punched Nathan Lyon to short leg after lunch, but England were not wilting just yet.
Buttler and Bairstow used up 14 overs, and 21 with Overton - the two of them were roared back out to the crease after tea.
When Buttler played no shot on his 111th ball to a Hazlewood inswinger, England would still not lie down.
Leach came to the crease - swapping places with Stuart Broad at number 10 - to face the second new ball.
Each defence, glasses wipe and new pair of gloves brought the biggest cheers from the crowd, knowing that overs were being lost with each little delay.
Leach was caught by Matthew Wade ending a 51-ball stay to deflate the Manchester crowd, and Overton, who had successfully reviewed being out lbw to Cummins earlier, suffered the same fate to Hazlewood and the review couldn't save him this time.
Cummins had a hat-trick ball last night after he removed Rory Burns and Joe Root, and the number one ranked bowler led the Australian attack once more today.
Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc worked alongside Cummins to test England's patience, rotating at the opposite end to Lyon, with the off-spinner struggling to provide a constant threat, but accounted for Denly with one that bounced and Archer with one that emphatically didn't.
Bairstow was trapped leg before by a Starc nip-backer, and with the new ball after 58 overs, Hazlewood produced the swinging beauty that dismissed Buttler.
The pacemen began to tire against the stoic Overton and Leach, so Australia turned to Labuschagne who got a breakthrough in his first over before Hazlewood's lbw on Overton sparked wild celebrations.
Only one touring team in the past 18 years have ended the series with the Ashes.
England's achievement of 2010-11 has been matched by this Australia side, in an impressive turnaround from the ball-tampering scandal 18 months ago.
They have been taunted by home crowds throughout the World Cup and this series, none more so than the captain at the time Steve Smith.
He responded by bettering his run total from the last series down under with 671 in just five innings, supported by a pacebowling masterclass from Cummins and Hazlewood.
But for Stokes, Australia would have secured the Ashes at Headingley, while only rain denied England an almost certain win at Lord's.
England lost James Anderson to injury after four overs on the first day at Edgbaston, who surely would have had a huge impact on the series had he been fit.
But in a battle of two frail batting line-ups, Smith has been the gamechanger.
SCORECARD
Australia won the toss and decided to bat
Australia won by 185 runs
Australia First Innings
Batsman: How Out - Bowler / Runs / Balls / SR (4s, 6s)
Harris: lbw - b Broad / 13 / 24 / 54.17 (1, 0)
Warner: c Bairstow - b Broad / 0 / 2 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Labuschagne: b Overton / 67 / 128 / 52.24 (10, 0)
Smith: c Denly - b Root / 211 / 319 / 66.14 (24, 2)
Head: lbw - b Broad / 19 / 22 / 86.36 (3, 0)
Wade: c Root - b Leach / 16 / 45 / 35.56 (2, 0)
Paine: c Bairstow - b Overton / 58 / 127 / 45.67 (8, 0)
Cummins: c Stokes - b Leach / 4 / 9 / 44.44 (1, 0)
Starc: not out / 54 / 58 / 93.10 (7, 2)
Lyon: not out / 26 / 26 / 100.00 (4, 0)
Extras 4nb 3w 8b 14lb 29
Total (126.0 overs) 497-8 dec
Bowler: Overs / Maidens / Runs / Wickets / Econ
Broad: 25.0 / 2 / 97 / 3 / 3.88
Archer: 27.0 / 3 / 97 / 0 / 3.59
Stokes: 10.5 / 0 / 66 / 0 / 6.09
Leach: 26.1 / 3 / 83 / 2 / 3.17
Overton: 28.0 / 3 / 85 / 2 / 3.04
Denly: 3.0 / 1 / 8 / 0 / 2.67
Root: 6.0 / 0 / 39 / 1 / 6.50
Fall of Wicket - Batsman
1-1 (0.4 ovs) - Warner
28-2 (6.6 ovs) - Harris
144-3 (39.2 ovs) - Labuschagne
183-4 (48.4 ovs) - Head
224-5 (60.5 ovs) - Wade
369-6 (101.1 ovs) - Paine
387-7 (104.6 ovs) - Cummins
438-8 (117.5 ovs) - Smith
England First Innings
Batsman: How Out - Bowler / Runs / Balls / SR (4s, 6s)
Burns: c Smith - b Hazlewood / 81 / 185 / 43.78 (9, 0)
Denly: c Wade - b Cummins / 4 / 24 / 16.67 (0, 0)
Overton: c Smith - b Hazlewood / 5 / 15 / 33.33 (0, 0)
Root: lbw - b Hazlewood / 71 / 168 / 42.26 (10, 0)
Roy: b Hazlewood / 22 / 33 / 66.67 (3, 0)
Stokes: c Smith - b Starc / 26 / 62 / 41.94 (3, 0)
Bairstow: b Starc / 17 / 37 / 45.95 (2, 0)
Buttler: b Cummins / 41 / 65 / 63.08 (7, 0)
Archer: c Paine - b Cummins / 1 / 19 / 5.26 (0, 0)
Broad: b Starc / 5 / 29 / 17.24 (0, 0)
Leach: not out / 4 / 9 / 44.44 (1, 0)
Extras 4nb 5w 4b 11lb 24
Total (107.0 overs) 301 all out
Bowler: Overs / Maidens / Runs / Wickets /Econ
Starc: 22.0 / 7 / 80 / 3 / 3.64
Hazlewood: 25.0 / 6 / 57 / 4 / 2.28
Cummins: 24.0 / 6 / 60 / 3 / 2.50
Lyon: 36.0 / 4 / 89 / 0 / 2.47
Fall of Wicket - Batsman
10-1 (6.5 ovs) - Denly
25-2 (11.3 ovs) - Overton
166-3 (64.2 ovs) - Burns
175-4 (66.6 ovs) - Root
196-5 (72.4 ovs) - Roy
228-6 (84.5 ovs) - Bairstow
243-7 (88.3 ovs) - Stokes
256-8 (92.6 ovs) - Archer
283-9 (101.5 ovs) - Broad
301-10 (106.6 ovs) - Buttler
Australia Second Innings
Batsman: How Out - Bowler / Runs / Balls / SR (4s, 6s)
Warner: lbw - b Broad / 0 / 6 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Harris: lbw - b Broad / 6 / 16 / 37.50 (1, 0)
Labuschagne: lbw - b Archer / 11 / 25 / 44.00 (2, 0)
Smith: c Stokes - b Leach / 82 / 92 / 89.13 (12, 0)
Head: b Archer / 12 / 19 / 63.16 (2, 0)
Wade: c Bairstow - b Archer / 34 / 76 / 44.74 (2, 0)
Paine: not out / 23 / 18 / 127.78 (4, 0)
Starc: not out / 3 / 6 / 50.00 (0, 0)
Extras 1nb 7w 5b 2lb 15
Total (42.5 overs) 186-6 dec
Bowler: Overs / Maidens / Runs / Wickets / Econ
Broad: 14.0 / 4 / 54 / 2 / 3.86
Archer: 14.0 / 2 / 45 / 3 / 3.21
Overton: 5.5 / 1 / 22 / 0 / 3.77
Leach: 9.0 / 0 / 58 / 1 / 6.44
Fall of Wicket - Batsman
0-1 (0.6 ovs) - Warner
16-2 (6.1 ovs) - Harris
24-3 (9.3 ovs) - Labuschagne
44-4 (13.6 ovs) - Head
149-5 (38.1 ovs) - Smith
158-6 (39.2 ovs) - Wade
England Second Innings
Batsman: How Out - Bowler / Runs / Balls / SR (4s, 6s)
Burns: c Head - b Cummins / 0 / 3 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Denly: c Labuschagne - b Lyon / 53 / 123 / 43.09 (6, 0)
Root: b Cummins / 0 / 1 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Roy: b Cummins / 31 / 67 / 46.27 (4, 0)
Stokes: c Paine - b Cummins / 1 / 17 / 5.88 (0, 0)
Bairstow: lbw - b Starc / 25 / 61 / 40.98 (1, 0)
Buttler: b Hazlewood / 34 / 111 / 30.63 (4, 0)
Overton: lbw - b Hazlewood / 21 / 105 / 20.00 (2, 0)
Archer: lbw - b Lyon / 1 / 9 / 11.11 (0, 0)
Leach: c Wade - b Labuschagne / 12 / 51 / 23.53 (1, 0)
Broad: not out / 0 / 3 / 0.00 (0, 0)
Extras 2nb 0w 9b 8lb 19
Total (91.3 overs) 197 all out
Bowler: Overs / Maidens / Runs / Wickets / Econ
Cummins: 24.0 / 9 / 43 / 4 / 1.79
Hazlewood: 17.3 / 5 / 31 / 2 / 1.77
Lyon: 29.0 / 12 / 51 / 2 / 1.76
Starc: 16.0 / 2 / 46 / 1 / 2.88
Labuschagne: 4.0 / 1 / 9 / 1 / 2.25
Head: 1.0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0.00
Fall of Wicket - Batsman
0-1 (0.3 ovs) - Burns
0-2 (0.4 ovs) - Root
66-3 (24.6 ovs) - Roy
74-4 (30.2 ovs) - Stokes
93-5 (39.2 ovs) - Denly
138-6 (53.1 ovs) - Bairstow
172-7 (74.2 ovs) - Buttler
173-8 (75.5 ovs) - Archer
196-9 (89.5 ovs) - Leach
197-10 (91.3 ovs) - Overton
The Ashes Fixtures and Results
1-5 August
First Test, Edgbaston
Australia won by 251 runs (England 0-1 Australia)
14-18 August
Second Test, Lord's
Match drawn (England 0-1 Australia)
22-26 August
Third Test, Headingley
England won by one wicket (England 1-1 Australia)
4-8 September
Fourth Test, Old Trafford
Australia won by 185 runs (England 1-2 Australia)
12-16 September
Fifth Test, The Oval
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