England's improbable task: Can it chase down 435 to keep Ashes hopes alive?

ADELAIDE, Australia — Ben Stokes and his England bowling attack did everything possible Saturday morning to keep the Ashes series alive, taking six Australian wickets for 78 runs and setting up a target of 435 to win the third cricket test.

It would take a world-record chase to win at the Adelaide Oval, but with a relatively flat wicket and five sessions remaining it wasn't entirely out of the question.

It didn't start well for England, with Australia skipper Pat Cummins taking a wicket with his second ball to remove Ben Duckett (4).

At lunch on Day 4, England was 5-1 and needed 430 for an unlikely victory. Australia needed nine wickets to clinch the series with two tests to spare.

After losing the first two tests in Perth and Brisbane, England needs a victory to keep the five-match series alive. Australia needs only a draw to retain the Ashes.

Still, for England, it's a far better equation than it appeared at stumps on Day 3, when Australia reached 271-4 in its second innings, a lead of 356, with Travis Head unbeaten on 142 and Alex Carey on 52.

The Australians, already with a 2-0 series lead and needing only a draw in Adelaide to retain the Ashes, were all out for 349, a lead of 434. Travis Head's dismissal for 170 triggered a lower-order collapse, with the last six wickets falling for 38 in 11 overs.

England has successfully chased 370-plus targets twice to win against India in the last three years.

England's rally

Momentum was all Australia's way initially, even to the point of getting an extra run when a fielder's throw at the non-striker's end deflected and rolled away to allow the batters to return for 2.

Head raised his 150 soon after, and gave a very brisk wave ot the bat to acknowledge it.

His 219-run innings came when he pulled a short ball from Josh Tongue (4-70) high and deep into the outfield where Zak Crawley took a catch looking into the sun at deep mid-wicket.

Carey took the lead to 400 with a cut boundary off Stokes, leaving the England skipper grimacing and shaking his head.

Josh Inglis got a reprieve on 3 when he was adjudged lbw to Stokes but immediately reviewed and had the decision overturned. At that stage, Australia led by 409.

Stokes made a momentum-swinging breakthrough when he had Carey out for 72, tucking a short ball around the corner and caught at leg slip.

Brydon Carse (3-80) was on a hat-trick when he had Cummins (6) caught behind, stretching to swat a wider ball, and trapped Nathan Lyon lbw on the next ball.

No. 11 Scott Boland left a wide ball to deny England its first Ashes hat-trick since 1999, but he was out soon after when Jofra Archer (1-20) had him fending away a short ball and offering a return catch.