England have been left facing the likelihood of falling 2-0 down in the Ashes after Australia reduced their hosts to 114-4 with a target of 371 being set at Lord's.
Resuming on 130, Australia eventually made 279 all out, both teams frustrating each other at times, yet it set the stage for England to try to pull off one of the most famous chases in Test history.
However, some blistering bowling from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins left England on 45-4 before Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes saw out the remaining 18.1 overs of the day to at least give their side hope ahead of Sunday's play.
The opening hour of the day largely passed by without incident before England were able to remove Usman Khawaja (77), Steven Smith (34) and Travis Head (7) in quick succession.
A turgid spell from both sides followed either side of lunch, just 42 runs being scored from 20 overs before the dismissal of Cameron Green (18) sparked a period of wickets falling at regular intervals.
Most notably, though, Nathan Lyon, who suffered a calf injury earlier in the match that could ultimately keep him out of the series, hobbled onto the Lord's pitch to put on a 15-run final-wicket partnership with Cummins, Lyon hitting one boundary but being in no position to run between the wickets.
The show of character lifted Australia before they attempted to stop England threatening a target of 371, and that was achieved as the hosts were quickly reduced to 13-2 as Starc picked up the wickets of Zak Crawley (3) and Ollie Pope (3).
Cummins then got in on the act, removing Joe Root (18) and Harry Brook (4) to leave England facing the possibility of capitulation, but Duckett (50*) and Stokes (29*) deserve credit for advancing the score to a point where England require another 257 runs to pull an unthinkable run chase.
Darren Plant
