LIVE: Head notches fourth consecutive Adelaide century as lead passes 300

• LISTEN LIVE: Every ball of the Ashes
• England reach 286 in reply to Australia's score of 371
• Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer salvage England's innings to keep the Test alive.
• Travis Head brings up his fourth consecutive Adelaide Test century.

England managed to survive to Stumps on Day 2 and they'll take a modicum of momentum into Day 3 after a solid partnership between Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer; however, it’s Australia who hold the aces thanks to some disciplined bowling in extreme heat.

The return of captain Pat Cummins proved vital as the skipper took 3/54, including Joe Root for the 12th time in Test cricket.

England begun Day 3 at 8/213, and managed to reach 286 before Lunch on Day 3 as the lead was reeled into double digits.

What will Day 3 bring? Follow live below.

5:00pm - Travis Head completes special home century

Australia 4/207 - Head 103, Carey 28

Travis Head makes it four centuries in four consecutive Tests in South Australia, what a spectacle at Adelaide Oval.

His 11th Test century brought up with statesman Alex Carey at the other end and at a crucial time to affirm a solid lead for the Aussies to put England to the sword.

Fortuitously he was dropped by Harry Brook at gully on 99 but that matters little now.

"South Australian's unite. Adelaide 2025 will always be remembered for the centuries of Alex Carey and Travis Head," Whateley said on SEN Cricket.

"It's one of the great receptions at this ground."

It’s teetering on the edge for England here as the lead grows to 292.

3:57pm - Green's woes continue at number 5

Australia 4/149 - Head 77, Carey to the crease

Yet again Cameron Green fails at 5. This time edging Josh Tongue to a lusty drive caught handily by Harry Brook in the cordon.

"The struggles of Cameron Green deepens," Gerard Whateley said on SEN Cricket.

"That question is answered. (Number 5) is not his position."

"Once again Cameron Green plays the wrong line... if he can't drive that ball consistently then he's not going to survive in Test cricket." - Simon Katich.

The two South Australian heroes now merge at the crease. Travis Head and Alex Carey coincidently the two most in-form Australian batsmen.

3:48pm - Khawaja falls unexpectedly to loose Jacks

Australia 3/139 - Head 75, Green to the crease

Will Jacks' subdued celebration says it all as he nicks off Usman Khawaja to a loose wide one that should have been left alone or punished.

It felt as though the Aussies were in cruise control there but Jacks gets the breakthrough for his skipper.

"To say that wicket came from nowhere would be an understatement." - Bharat Sundaresan.

Cam Green strolls to the crease, he would be keen to take some pressure off himself after a poor dismissal in the first innings.

3:43pm - Jacks under the pump after Tea

Australia 2/136 - Head 74, Khawaja 38

Khwaja and Head are clearly targeting Will Jacks here.

They've seen enough of the all-rounder and have decided to capitalise on the lack of variation or spin that Jacks is managing.

Dangerous times for England here as these two lefties are looking relatively untroubled and the lead sails to 221.

TEA

3:11pm - Aussies get to Tea as lead goes past 200

Australia 2/119 - Head 68, Khawaja 27

Australia have gotten to Tea two down, and the third Ashes Test is now at their mercy.

With the lead now above 200 and both players well set, Australia should absolutely be looking at a lead of 400+.

For England, you'd imagine they'd be happy now chasing anything with a three in front of it given how good batting looks on this deck, albeit spin could come into it later on.

The series will be just about over if Australia have another strong session to end the day.

"Australia, they've had a tremendous session here," Adam Collins.

"It's been smooth-sailing, the lead is now 204. England need to do something spectacular after the short break."

"If I'm England and walking off there, I'm thinking we just let that session go. They were reactive and hoping the Australians would play poor shots, but that was ruthless from the Aussies." - Damien Fleming.

2:43pm - Head reaches fifty

Australia 2/93 - Head 51, Khawaja 18

Travis Head reaches fifty on his home deck, and the Adelaide locals are loving watching their golden boy out in the middle.

"Word is spreading around Adelaide, Travis Head is on the move!" - Gerard Whateley.

"Travis Head just loves batting on his home deck, a 72-ball fifty. If he doubles this up and raises the bat again, it will be a brilliant afternoon at the Adelaide Oval." - Adam Collins.

Head has scored tons in all of the last three Tests at the venue, can he make it four from four?

2:34pm - An interesting patch of the game here

Australia 2/88 - Head 47, Khawaja 18

England are really on the back foot, with defensive fields to both Khawaja and Head as they try to restrict boundaries.

In doing that though, both players are easily ticking the strike over as Australia's lead builds.

Both players look the goods at this stage as the lead baloons above 170 with eight wickets in the sheds.

2:09pm - Marnus' edgy innings comes to an end

Australia 2/53 - Head 30, Khawaja to the crease

Labuschagne departs for 13 in another unconvincing innings.

Australia's number 3 is yet to really fire this Summer with a very similar story to his first innings 19.

"That was regression from Marnus Labuschagne. That was the worst of him last season," Gerard Whateley said on SEN Cricket.

Josh Tongue gets his second wicket of the Test after nagging away at a nice line outside off at a good length that Marnus couldn't let go.

Usman Khawaja joins Travis Head at the crease with a 138-run lead.

1:53pm - Aussies settling in

Australia 1/45 - Head 26, Labuschagne 10

Travis Head is beginning to motor, with 26 from 36. Marnus Labuschagne is also getting his eye in with 10 from 35.

The English are on the defensive somewhat, with sweepers behind square on the off side to Travis Head.

The tactic appears to be containment against Head, hoping the left-hander gets overly aggressive in other regions.

Simon Katich can't understand why that fielder isn't in a more attacking position given the Aussies are effectively 1/130 given their lead.

"With the way Travis Head plays, I think they need another catcher behind point on the off-side." - Simon Katich.

1:28pm - England burn a review

Australia 1/25 - Head 9, Labuschagne 8

England think they've got Marnus Labuschagne caught behind, but after sending it upstairs, there was no edge.

A clear gap between bat and ball and no spike on snicko. Marnus survives.

1:17pm - Marnus survives yet another umpire review

Australia 1/17 - Head 6, Labuschagne 4

Labuschagne survives as he edges one behind to Jamie Smith.

Clear spike on Snicko but a lunging Smith couldn't reach in very similar fashion to Joe Root's edge yesterday that controversially was given not out.

LUNCH

12:34 - England in it, but Aussies are two good hours away

Australia 1/17 - Head 5, Labuschagne 4

The bails are off for Lunch.

While the Aussies are well ahead, England are in the game after an early wicket, with the lead now 102 at the main break.

The only caveat is, they simply must break through early in the second session if they're to really wrestle back the momentum.

If these two can bat for much of the next session, the runs will keep ticking and the Aussies will pull away.

Damien Fleming thinks that if the Aussies nail session two, they may just wrap up the Ashes entirely.

"England is still in this game, but Australia can bat them out of it in one session." - Damien Fleming.

12:18 - Carse breaks through, but a shocker from Weatherald

Australia 1/9 - Head 1, Labuschagne 0

Brydon Carse breaks through with an early wicket, removing Jake Weatherald LBW for 1.

The left-hander didn't review, but he should have, as the ball pitched outside leg!

It appears that Travis Head talked his partner out of a review. Not a good start for the Aussies here.

"It's an umpiring error, but it's also a batting error!" - Damien Fleming.

"That clearly pitched outside leg on replay!"

12:14 - What both teams will be aiming for this innings

Australia 0/8 - Head 1, Weatherald 1

Starting this innings ahead by 85, Australia will be looking to make 320+ this innings, while England will be hoping to take 10 wickets for 220 or fewer according to Simon Katich.

If Australia can set a target of 400+, they'll be very confident.

"They (England) will feel they're in the Test if they can chase 300, but if it's 400+, it's going to be incredibly tough." - Simon Katich.

Jofra Archer has sent down the first over of the innings, and it wasn't a great one with two no balls and a wide one down leg that went for four byes.

Perhaps the big quick needs to find some rhythm after a big knock with the bat.

ENGLAND 286

11:58 - England all out

England 286 - Tongue 7 not out

The Aussies have put an end to England's innings, with Scott Boland removing Jofra Archer for 51, with the tailender edging to slips.

While they trail by 85 heading into the innings break, the Poms would be fairly happy with the fight they showed given how much trouble they were in at 8/168.

Gerard Whateley described their efforts to reach 286 as a terrific salvage mission, but now that they're still behind, they must stand up with the ball to really begin to even up this matchup.

"Terrific salvage mission, Archer has done his part with the bat, and now so much rests on what he does with the ball."

11:39 - Starc strikes!

England 9/274 - Archer 50, Tongue to the crease

Mitchell Starc gets through Ben Stokes with a beauty!

The English skipper goes for 82 after being clean bowled. An incredible knock to bring his team back into the game here.

They trail by 97, and with Josh Tongue to the crease, who is a genuine No. 11, SEN's Gerard Whateley expects "the next phase of the game to come very quickly".

Any runs from here are a bonus for the visitors.

11:37 - Lead into double digits!

England 8/274 - Stokes 83, Archer 50

This partnerhsip is causing Australia all sorts of grief.

Archer has his first Test fifty, while Stokes is nearing a hugely important ton.

The English also now trail by less than 100. Another 50 between these two, and it's absolutely game on.

We may have a game on our hands!

11:21 - England survive first over with the new ball

England 8/261 - Stokes 72, Archer 48

Australia took the new ball immediately after hitting 80 overs, and Mitchell Starc was thrown the new Kookaburra.

While Starc had the ball talking, Jofra Archer managed to keep the left-armer out.

Cummins now has the new rock from the other end and the Aussies will hope to break through here very quickly.

11:10am – Broad on England’s hopes

England 8/251 - Stokes 69, Archer 42

SEN Cricket’s Stuart Broad put out a message ahead of Day 3 in Adelaide.

The commentator will return to Australia ahead of the Boxing Day Test, but for now he expressed his disappointment in England’s Day 2 performance in the cold and wet of the UK.

Still, the former quick is holding out hope as Stokes and Archer continue to eat into the lead.

“Hugely disappointing day for England, I think we had a bit of hope we were going to do something special with the bat,” Broad said on Instagram.

“Australia looked like they were relentless with the ball to be fair to them, a few guys got great balls.

“There was a lot of controversy over the Jamie Smith dismissal, Root would be disappointed, Pope no words…

“But ultimately Australia were relentless and England haven’t been able to cope with the bat against them but still not.

“We’re still not out of the game if Stokes and Jof can do something special tomorrow morning and get within 70 or 80, England like chasing.”

10:50 - England doing things easy

England 8/237 - Stokes 60, Archer 39

Much like yesterday's first session, the tail is batting very well on this deck.

Archer looks every chance to get to 50, his score of 39 is now his highest in Test cricket, as he begins chancing his arm.

Meanwhile, Stokes is barely putting a foot wrong despite Alex Carey being up at the stumps off the bowling of Scott Boland.

England have six overs to get through before Australia receive another new ball, can they inflict some damage before that stage?

10:32 - First over in the books

England 8/218 - Stokes 49, Archer 31

Scott Boland has completed the first over of Day 3, and England still have both wickets in hand as they show some aggresion with the bat.

Temperatures in Adelaide are much more tolerable today. The current temp is 24.5 degrees, with a high set for 30c.

How quickly this innings wraps up could decide the entire series. If England are bowled out for less than 250, this game is surely Australias, and so with it the Ashes.

But if these two can push the total near or above 300, they're still in it.

Settle in. Follow along here for Day 3.

9:55am - Labuschagne explains his on-field chat

Marnus Labuschagne is well known as Australia’s biggest on-field pest, and that was picked up clearly on the Stump Mic during Day 2 as England batted in the second session.

During the 22nd over, with England 4/82, the Stump Mic focused in on Labuschagne in slip as Ben Stokes faced Nathan Lyon.

With pressure building and Travis Head also around the bat at silly mid-off, Labuschagne was very vocal after every Lyon delivery.

Full of praise for the Aussie off-spinner, Labuschagne also came up with some bizarre terms to describe his teammates’ deliveries.

“Garry the square dog, he’s given him the square dog! … Give him the kit bag!” Labuschagne said.

“Give him the shampoo and conditioner here! Give him the works burger here, give him the meat, the onion, slide it on here!”

Speaking ahead of Day 3, Labuschagne described what he was thinking when while dishing out that chat to the England skipper.

"It's more banter to keep the energy of the boys up. On a hot day you can slip into the one over at a time," Labuschagne explained on SEN Cricket.

"I thought a bit of banter and comical chat would help. Normally I'm far away enough from the mic. I was happy to see Nath giving us his tricks, it was crafty."

9:30am – What’s England’s No. 3 doing in the team?

Damien Fleming can’t believe Ollie Pope is England’s No. 3 after his shocking dismissal on Day 2.

Pope fell for just three to Nathan Lyon, clipping a ball from outside off stump to a waiting Josh Inglis at mid-wicket.

The dismissal was ugly for Pope, who was hitting from well outside his eye line to the opposite side of the field, and Fleming almost feels sorry for him after scores of 46, 33, 0, 26 and 3 this series.

“Poor Ollie Pope, wow, what’s he doing playing Test cricket? That’s one of the worst dismissals I’ve ever seen from a number three,” Fleming said on SEN Cricket.

“Then Lyon’s ball to Duckett, the disbelief in his face was very similar to Mike Gatting, what an absolute cracker.”

9:00am - How far up the wicket-taking list can Lyon go?

Nathan Lyon passed Glenn McGrath on both the all-time Test wicket-taking list on Day 2 after bowling Ben Duckett with a beauty.

The off-spinner now has 564 Test poles, ranking him second all-time for Australia and sixth overall.

The 38-year-old is now 40 behind 5th placed Stuart Broad on 604, while Anil Kumble sits 4th on 619. Jimmy Anderson is 3rd on 704, while Shane Warne (708) and Muthiah Muralidaran (800) are the top two.

So the question is, how far will Lyon climb before his career wraps up? Tom Morris and Bharat Sundaresan discussed the topic on SEN’s The New Ball.

Morris: “Let's put this in a time capsule, Baz. Where does Nathan Lyon finish on that list?”

Sundaresan: “He should have the ability to go past Anil Kumble, that's 55 away now.

“He’ll play the next two Tests here. Then there’s five in the winter, three in South Africa and two in the top end against Bangladesh. Then there’s next home summer, and he’ll want to go to India again and maybe another away Ashes series.”

“Maybe he finishes somewhere between Anil Kumble and Jimmy Anderson (3rd with 704) is my guess.”

Morris: “I think somewhere between 620 and 700. Even if he finishes there and he's number four, it'll be a significant achievement.

“He's already had a great career, what he's just doing now is just topping it up, and he deserves all the accolades that he's getting from everyone around the cricket world.”

8:00am: England legend rips team apart

There was fighting talk from England captain Ben Stokes ahead of the third Test, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears when it comes to the rest of his team who melted in the Adelaide heat on Thursday.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott was filthy about the display.

"Can’t bat can’t win," he told the UK Telegraph. "Stokes and Archer made a nice contribution. Australia got 45 priceless runs in the morning. Root 19, Crawley 9, Pope, 3 another shocker. Jacks just isn’t good enough.

"It’s left to Stokes, head down, grinding and determined. Four hours for 45 n/o. He tried like hell. Archer 30n/o made things looks reasonable. Fact is England trail by 158 runs.

"It’s heart-breaking watching this, listening to Stokes’ fighting talk but as soon as they’re put under pressure they fold."