Australia 280 and 7 for 213 (Smith 24*, Siddle 17*) trail England 644 (Cook 189, Prior 118, Bell 115, Johnson 4-168) by 151 runs
England were three wickets away from an emphatic 3-1 series victory after more superlative all-round cricket left Australia in tatters on 7 for 213, still 151 runs short of making the visitors bat again. James Anderson produced an outstanding display of reverse swing, and Chris Tremlett battered the batsmen with hostile pace, to follow up Matt Prior's first Ashes hundred which led England to their highest total down under.
Stats...
Matt Prior's century is his fourth in Tests and his first against Australia. This is also the sixth century scored by an England wicket-keeper against Australia.
England made their fourth total over 500 in this series, which is only the fourth time a team has done so in a series.
In England's first innings, three batsmen scored centuries. This was only the seventh occasion overall and the second time this series that three or more batsmen have scored hundreds in an innings for England against Australia.
England batsmen have scored nine centuries in the series so far, the most by a visiting team in Australia.
If Australia lose by an innings, it will be their third innings defeat in the series and their fourth since 2009. In contrast, they lost only three times by an innings between October 1988 and November 2010.
Swann proceeded to take 17 off five balls against Johnson and his last four-over spell cost 48 runs. It's a long time since Australia have been dominated so extensively in a five-match series on home soil and on Friday the final nails will be hammered in.
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