Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden have steadied the ship for Australia in its second innings and set up an overall lead of 148 after day two of the third Ashes Test at the WACA Ground in Perth.
On a day when another nine wickets fell after 12 dismissals on Thursday, Australia (244 and 119-1 at stumps) set up a 29-run first innings lead by knocking over England for 215 in the second session in hot weather on Friday.
Matthew Hoggard then captured his 12th wicket of the series with a late-swinging delivery that Justin Langer edged onto his stumps on the first ball of the innings that changed the complexion of the match.
However, Ponting (57 not out) and Hayden (57 not out) were untroubled in building a 119-run partnership, the best in the match, despite the best efforts of paceman Steven Harmison (4-48 and 0-30 off eight overs) who has once again looked sharp for the tourists.
Australia, already 2-0 up in the series, will now look to set a massive target for England to chase on a pitch that has been inconsistent for the match's duration - but England's hold on the famous urn they won at The Oval in London last year now appears to have completely slipped away.
First innings bowling hero for England, Monty Panesar (5-92 and 0-29 off 10 overs), was played with relative ease by the Australian skipper and Hayden in the final session, with Ponting also passing 500 runs for the series late in the day.
Hayden has timed the ball well in compiling his half-century, particularly on the on-side, as he strives for a big score after making just 112 runs in the first five innings this series. He left the ground on day two wielding a Lleyton Hewitt-style fist-pump after glancing the final ball of the day for four.
In England's first innings, only Kevin Pietersen offered any real resistance with 70, although Panesar (16 not out) and Harmison (23), put on an innings-high 40-run partnership for the final wicket.
Stuart Clark had the best bowling figures with 3-49 off 15.1 overs, while Glenn McGrath (2-50 off 18 overs), Brett Lee (2-67 off 18 overs) and Andrew Symonds (2-8 off four overs) all claimed two wickets. Shane Warne (1-41 off nine overs) chimed in with one wicket to creep just five away from the magical 700-mark in his career.
Aside from Pietersen, only Andrew Strauss (42) made a decent start among England's batsmen.
After the tourists resumed play on day two at 51-2, it took only four overs before Australia struck, with Paul Collingwood (11) - who was dropped on four by Warne on Thursday evening - offering a catch to Hayden in the gully off McGrath to make it 3-55.
Strauss's caught-behind dismissal seven overs later provided Clark with a much-deserved first wicket. The New South Welshman had again beaten the edge of England's batsmen a number of times on day two, following a fine short spell on Thursday evening.
Symonds then removed Andrew Flintoff (13) when the England skipper edged a defensive shot through to Warne in the slips and when Geraint Jones followed for a duck in the Queenslander's next over after being caught in the gully, England was reeling at 113-6.
Following the lunch interval, Pietersen and Sajid Mahmood (10) added only six runs to the total before the latter played a rash shot outside the off-stump and edged through to Adam Gilchrist - giving Clark his second wicket.
South African-born Pietersen then avoided singles on a regular basis to maintain the strike, but his best efforts couldn't save Hoggard (four), who became Warne's only victim when he gave Hayden his second catch of the innings.
Realising he was running out of partners, 'KP' went on the attack, hitting a six off Warne over long-off just two balls after he was dropped by McGrath on the boundary off his Hampshire team-mate's bowling.
His luck ran out when he took on Lee after the Australian had all-but grazed the off-stump with a lightning-fast yorker, Pietersen holing out to Symonds in the deep the very next delivery. Clark closed out the innings with Harmison's wicket after he and Panesar had embarrassed the majority of the more-talented top-order.
