Pat Murphy: "England have got no chance"

The tourists lost all their recognised batsmen including Nasser Hussain, the last to go in the morning, caught and bowled by Stuart MacGill on 53.

At lunch the score was 175 for seven, with England still 112 short of an extremely unlikely victory.

Hussain was MacGill's third victim of the morning, with Glenn McGrath making an early breakthrough and Colin Miller taking the wicket which exposed the English tail.

That was John Crawley - out leg before wicket to Colin Miller, and he was soon followed by Warren Hegg, caught behind off MacGill.

Crucial wicket: Nasser Hussain falls with lunch on the horizon

In the first hour of play Glenn McGrath had taken the wicket of Ramprakash and Hick had been bowled around his legs by MacGill.

Ramprakash was caught in the slips by Mark Taylor without adding to his overnight total of 14.

Mark Ramprakash is out (BBC Test Match Special)

In taking the low chance at first slip, the Australian skipper claimed the world record for Test catches, ahead of predecessor Allan Border.

But more importantly for Taylor his catch ended a dangerous 53-run partnership between Ramprakash and Hussain which had put England on course for a famous triumph.

Ramprakash's departure brought Hick to the crease, who quickly got off the mark by cutting McGrath for four.

Aggressive Hick

His aggressive start was in stark contrast to Hussain's cautious approach.

The Essex man took four overs before adding to his overnight 17, a clip off his legs for two facing Shane Warne.

But he was soon into the groove, hitting a beautiful cover drive off McGrath for four.

McGrath and Shane Warne were replaced by MacGill and Colin Miller as Taylor rotated his attack.

Graeme Hick tries to sweep MacGill..... (BBC Test Match Special)

And the ploy quickly worked as Hick misjudged a ball around his legs from MacgIll.

His attempted sweep was mis-timed and he was bowled around his legs for seven with the score 131 for four.

John Crawley's lbw decision

That brought John Crawley to the wicket and although he started playing the spinners with confidence, he was given out when a high-looking ball struck him on the thigh.

The dismissal crucially exposed the English tail, as Warren Hegg entered the fray, with England hoping for another miracle turnaround.

Nasser Hussain: Spirited resistance

Hussain's half-century - a marvellous innings in such difficult circumstances - reminded his team's supporters that all was not lost, but it was soon followed by Hegg's wicket.

The Lancashire wicket-keeper tried to cut MacGill, but the short ball turned sharply and Hegg could get no more than an edge with the toe-end of his bat.

Ian Healy took the catch behind as Alex Tudor prepared to come to the wicket.

Four overs later Hussain was out as he tried to drive and instead handed MacGill an easy return catch.

It was a disappointing end to a determined and gritty innings, which included a 1,000th run in Ashes Tests and ensured that he narrowly heads Ramprakash in the English scoring charts for this series.

With Dean Headley approaching the wicket, the Aussies were confident of victory, and they might have thought they could do it in the 15 minutes before lunch.

But Headley and Tudor held firm, the Kent man batting aggressively and moving on to 12 with his partner on three.

Scorecard

England second innings

Overnight 104-2

M Butcher st Healy b Warne 27
A Stewart st Healy b MacGill 42
N Hussain c and b MacGill 53
M Ramprakash c Taylor b McGrath 14
G Hick b MacGill 7
J Crawley lbw b Miller 5
W Hegg c Healy b MacGill 3
A Tudor not out 3
D Headley not out 12
Extras 9

Total (for 7 wickets, 60 overs) 175

To bat: D Gough, P Such

Fall: 1-57, 2-77, 3-110, 4-131, 5-150, 6-157, 7-162

Bowling: McGrath 10-0-40-1 Miller 17-1-50-1, MacGill 17-3-47-4, Warne 16-3-33-1

Australia second innings:
M Slater c Hegg b Headley 123
M Taylor c Stewat b Gough 2
J Langer lbw b Headley 1
M Waugh not out 24
D Lehmann c Crawley b Such 0
I Healy c Crawley b Such 5
S Waugh b Headley 8
S Warne c Ramprakash b Such 8
S MacGill c Butcher b Such 7
C Miller not out 2
G McGrath c Stewart b Such 0
Extras 3
Total (for all out, 64.5 overs) 184

Fall: 1-16, 2-25, 3-64, 4-73, 5-91, 6-110, 7-141, 8-180, 9-184

Bowling: Headley 19-7-40-4, Gough 15-3-51-1, Such 25.5-5-81-5, Tudor 5-2-8-0

England first innings:
M Butcher lbw b Warne 36
A Stewart c Warne b McGrath 3
N Hussain c M Waugh b Miller 42
M Ramprakash c MacGill b McGrath 14
G Hick c Warne b MacGill 23
J Crawley not out 44
W Hegg b Miller 15
A Tudor b MacGill 14
D Headley c McGrath b MacGill 8
D Gough lbw b MacGill 0
P Such not out 0
Extras 21
Total (80.1 overs) 220

Fall: 1-18, 2-56, 3-88, 4-137, 5-139, 6-171, 7-204, 8-213, 9-213

Bowling: McGrath 17-7-35-2, Miller 23-6-45-2, MacGill 20.1-2-57-5, Warne 20-4-67-1

Australia first innings:
M Taylor c Hick b Headley 2
M Slater c Hegg b Headley 18
J Langer c Ramprakash b Tudor 26
M Waugh c Hegg b Headley 121
S Waugh b Such 96
D Lehmann c Hussain b Tudor 32
I Healy c Hegg b Gough 14
S Warne not out 2
S MacGill b Gough 0
C Miller b Gough 0
G McGrath c Hick b Headley 0

Extras 11
Total (all out, 87.3 overs) 322

Fall: 1-4, 2-52, 3-52, 4-242, 5-284, 6-319, 7-321, 8-321, 9-321

Bowling: Gough 17-3-61-3, Headley 19.3-3-62-4, Tudor 12-1-64-2, Such 24-6-77-1, Ramprakash 15-0-56-0