Dominant Australia collected the last four wickets they needed Sunday to win the third Test and retain the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket, crushing the dreams of a "hurting" England side who finally showed some fight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It feels pretty awesome," said Australia captain Pat Cummins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It wasn't easy today, but we got it done. It's an exciting changing room.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The last two months have been a bit of a grind," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"But it's all worth it for days like this. That's when we are at our best ... it's good old-fashioned grind, and I love the toil from all the guys."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The tourists needed a win to keep the five-match series alive after being crushed by eight wickets at Perth and Brisbane, with two more Tests still to play at Melbourne and Sydney.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Everyone is hurting' -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But despite showing more grit, they were again outplayed by an Australian team who suffered a setback with spin wizard Nathan Lyon hurting his hamstring and hobbling off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chasing 435 was always going to be a huge challenge, with no side ever reeling in more than 418 to win in Test history, but England at least gave it a crack as they got to 352.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Their demise in just 11 days is the joint second quickest in more than a century since the 1921 series was completed in eight days, with their "Bazball" style of ultra-attacking cricket exposed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"That dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing," said England skipper Ben Stokes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Everyone is hurting and quite emotional about it. It hurts, it sucks, but we ain't going to stop."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Stokes also took some positives from the way England battled, having demanded more fight leading into the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"That stuff I wanted to see, I've seen that this week. I think we can take a lot from this game," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England's capitulation over three Tests is a far cry from the pre-Ashes hype where they were touted as having their best chance in a generation to win a series in Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
And it made a mockery of former fast bowler Stuart Broad's claim that the hosts had their weakest side in 15 years, written off by others as a "Dad's Army".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The reality for Stokes's men is that England have now gone 18 Tests since winning in Australia, dating back to their last series victory there in 2010-11.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Their last three trips yielded one-sided scorelines of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0, with more of the same on the cards unless there is a dramatic shift in their fortunes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Livin' on a Prayer' -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They resumed on 207-6 with Will Jacks on 11 and Jamie Smith two.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith showed early intent by slog-sweeping Lyon over deep midwicket for six then banged another off Cameron Green as the Barmy Army fans broke into Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After four days of searing heat and sunshine, the lights were on with dark clouds looming and after 40 minutes the players went off as fine rain returned.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They were back out 40 minutes later with Lyon limping off soon after the restart after pulling a hamstring in saving a boundary.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He was sent for scans and ruled out of the rest of the Test, later seen on crutches with rest of the series for him in peril.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
When Mitchell Starc took the new ball, Smith began hitting out and it proved his downfall when he skied to Pat Cummins at midwicket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jacks produced his highest Test score of 47 and steered England's chase below 100.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But he fell to another spectacular catch from Marnus Labuschange, diving to his left in front of wicketkeeper Alex Carey after an edge off Starc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Starc struck again to send Jofra Archer packing before Boland took out Tongue, sparking huge celebrations.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Australia-v-England-Adelaide-test-ashes-2025.jpeg", "alt_img": "ashes 2025-26", "alt_title": "Australia beat England by 82 runs to win third Test and retain Ashes", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "Australia beat England by 82 runs to win third Test and retain Ashes On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Dominant Australia beat England by 82 runs in the Adelaide Test to win the third Test and retain the Ashes in just 11 days, despite England\u2019s late fightback.", "seo_keywords": "Ashes 2025-26, England Vs Australia", "tag": null, "tagging": "Ashes 2025-26,England Vs Australia,", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "australia-beat-england-by-82-runs-to-win-third-test-and-retain-ashes", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "1", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "500", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "1", "created": "2025-12-21 11:18:28", "updated": "2025-12-21 11:18:28", "img_from": "Image Source: Google", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "Ashes 2025-26, England Vs Australia", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "1", "posted_by": "19", "jio_date": "2025-12-21 11:18:28", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "1", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": "Select", "article_content_type": null, "england_cricket": "0", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/australia-beat-england-by-82-runs-to-win-third-test-and-retain-ashes-184461" }