England’s hopes to regain the Ashes crashed on Sunday as they fell 82 runs short of Australia in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval. Australia thus took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series to retain the Ashes.
Dominant Australia collected the last four wickets they needed on the final day to win the third Test and retain the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket, crushing the dreams of an England side which finally showed some fight in front of their improbable 435-run target.
England’s dogged resistance on day five at Adelaide Oval lasted into the second session before Scott Boland removed Josh Tongue for an 82-run victory to ensure the famous urn remains in Australian hands.
England fight hard
Needing 435 to win, England’s lower order fought hard to delay the inevitable loss. Jamie Smith scored 60 before falling to Mitchell Starc for the first wicket of the final day. Will Jacks and Brydon Carse also stayed at the crease for long period to keep Australian bowlers at bay for some time.
However, the resistance finally ended as Jacks fell for 47 off 137 balls and the final two wickets of Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue went down in quick succession.
Carse remained stranded at one end on 39 and Australia won the third Test to keep the Ashes after just 11 days of cricket in the series.
England came into the series with a strong bowling line-up and hopes of finally winning in Australia but those have ended much before Christmas. And this when Josh Hazlewood has not played in the series and Pat Cummins too missed the first couple of matches. The Australian side was touted to be at their weakest since 2010 but England have not been able to cash in.
Quick Reads
View AllCant we change the England with some other teams rotational, it is getting so predictable. England loses every time.
— CricTalk by AJ (@CricTalkbyAJ) December 21, 2025
Aus dominating again. Bazball officially over
— Abbay (@LearnWithAbbay) December 21, 2025
The "worst Australian team in 15 years" has won the Ashes urn in just 11 days 🏆
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 21, 2025
MORE 👉 https://t.co/Tdfj5bX84r#Ashes pic.twitter.com/3TniElGlQK
“The best England team in more than a decade, purpose-built to reclaim the Ashes in Australia, playing a swashbuckling brand of cricket, this will be the glorious culmination of the Bazball project-..”
— Evan Morgan Grahame (@Evan_M_G) December 21, 2025
“Yeah well it’s over now, they lost before Christmas.”#Ashes pic.twitter.com/zwWLsqxydG
No Hazlewood, hardly any Cummins, Smith, Lyon etc etc, makes this defeat tough to understand!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) December 21, 2025
(With AFP inputs)


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