England have set Australia 412 to win the first Ashes Test after dominating day three in Cardiff.
The hosts cleaned up the Australian lower order in the morning to earn a 128-run first-innings advantage, and then continued their refreshing new batting approach to make 289 in their second dig.
Jimmy Anderson was dismissed by Nathan Lyon with the last ball of the day to leave the tourists with two full days to complete what would be a record chase at the Swalec Stadium.
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Morning: Six wickets tumble for 63 runs
Resuming on 264-5, still trailing by 166, Australia lost two wickets for only one run as nightwatchman Lyon (six) was trapped plumb in front by Mark Wood, and lbw candidate Shane Watson (30) soon followed to Stuart Broad in the same manner after a tight, but unsuccessful, review.
Brad Haddin’s counter-attacking knocks in the recent whitewash Down Under often dug Australia out of a hole, but he could manage only 22 before he feathered the ball behind off Anderson.
The dangerous Mitchell Johnson (14) softly spooned the ball to square-leg off Broad soon after, and Mitchell Starc was the last man out when Joe Root took a stunning grab to give Anderson his third.
Bowled out for 308 having lost their final six wickets for 50 runs, Australia faced a big deficit but made a breakthrough before lunch as Alastair Cook (12) flashed Josh Hazelwood to Lyon at point.
Afternoon: England pile on the runs
The Aussies collected another early wicket shortly after the interval as Hazelwood produced a rising snorter which glanced the glove of Gary Ballance to send England’s number three back for a duck.
Despite being 24-2, England did not abandon their positive stroke play and Adam Lyth and Ian Bell ensured that the tourists did not get on a roll with a 51-run partnership for the third wicket.
The left-hander open was going well on 37 when Michael Clarke took a superb catch diving to his left at first slip off Lyon, but first-innings centurion Root picked up where he left off by taking on the baton.
He had reached 31 by the time that the players left the field for tea with England 149-3, leading by 177, while Bell had gone to a much-needed half-century with the help of some trademark cover drives.
Evening: Australia fightback thwarted by Wood rally
Bell (60) could not convert into three figures as Johnson finally took his first wicket of the series. The paceman set the Warwickshire batsman up with a series of inswingers before taking out his off stump.
Root would go for the same score, having appeared well set for back-to-back hundreds before Hazelwood got one to nip back, and his dismissal triggered a mini Australia revival.
The impressive Lyon claimed the scalps of Jos Buttler, caught miscuing a reverse sweep, and Broad for single figures either side of Stokes chopping on a Starc half-volley after a breezy 42.
But the first semblance of momentum that Australia had built all day was soon snatched from them as Wood smashed 32 not out off 18 balls to take England’s advantage beyond the psychological 400 mark.
Any thoughts of an overnight declaration were cast aside as England went hard until stumps, with Moeen (13) falling to Johnson and Anderson swinging and missing off Lyon (4-75) to close the show.
Rain is forecast for Cardiff on Sunday, but anything other than bad weather or a phenomenal innings from one of Australia’s top six is likely to see England take a 1-0 series lead.
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