{"id":10400,"date":"2025-12-20T12:39:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T07:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=673490"},"modified":"2025-12-20T12:39:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T07:09:26","slug":"ashes-2025-26-3rd-test-heads-into-day-5-for-first-time-this-series-as-australia-close-in-on-ashes-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ashes-2025-26-3rd-test-heads-into-day-5-for-first-time-this-series-as-australia-close-in-on-ashes-retention\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashes 2025\u201326: 3rd Test heads into Day 5 for first time this series as Australia close in on Ashes retention"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval<\/strong> is set for a decisive Day 5 finish<\/strong>, marking the first match of the series to go into the final day<\/strong>, with Australia firmly in control and just four wickets away from retaining the Ashes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At stumps on Day 4, England were 207 for 6 in their second innings<\/strong>, chasing a daunting 435-run target<\/strong>. With 228 runs still required<\/strong> and only four wickets in hand, Australia are overwhelming favourites to secure victory and take an unassailable 3\u20130 lead<\/strong> in the five-match series.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s dominance was built on a commanding second-innings performance earlier in the day. Resuming with a strong platform, the hosts were led by Travis Head\u2019s superb 170<\/strong>, which pushed Australia to 349<\/strong> and set England an almost impossible chase. England eventually bowled Australia out before lunch, but the damage had already been done.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s reply began shakily as Ben Duckett fell early<\/strong>, and pressure continued to mount as wickets fell at regular intervals. Nathan Lyon produced a decisive spell<\/strong>, removing key batters including Ben Stokes and Harry Brook<\/strong>, swinging momentum firmly Australia\u2019s way. Lyon finished Day 4 with three wickets, keeping England under constant pressure.<\/p>\n

There was some resistance from Zak Crawley<\/strong>, who top-scored with a fighting knock before falling late in the day, while Joe Root\u2019s dismissal by Pat Cummins<\/strong> \u2014 his 13th time falling to the Australian captain in Tests \u2014 further dented England\u2019s hopes.<\/p>\n

Late in the evening session, Will Jacks and Jamie Smith<\/strong> showed resilience, batting out the final overs to ensure England survived to Day 5. However, with the target still far away and Australia\u2019s bowlers fresh, the task remains monumental.<\/p>\n

As play resumes on Day 5, Australia need just four more wickets<\/strong> to wrap up the Test and retain the Ashes<\/strong>, while England require a near-miraculous effort to keep the series alive heading into the Melbourne and Sydney Tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval is set for a decisive Day 5 finish, marking the first match\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}