England were defeated again by Australia as the first Ashes Test nears an early finish

England’s batting was blown away for the second time in as many days as the first Ashes Test cruised towards an early finish in Perth.

The dominance of ball over bat continued on day two, with England losing nine wickets for 99 in the afternoon session.

That left 164, leaving Australia chasing 205 to win a hyperactive cricket game that still has more than three scheduled days to go.

With a 40-run first-innings lead on the bench, England initially shrugged off Zak Crawley’s second duck of the match to advance 105 while one behind just after lunch.

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AUSTRALIA V ENGLAND: FIRST TEST SCORECARD, DAY TWO

Wrong

But their hopes went from the brink as Australia forced mistake after mistake.

Ben Duckett picked up Scott Boland for a ruinous sequence that saw the middle-order engine room of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root dismissed in the space of six deliveries without a run being added to the total.

Pope, who led a charmed life before the age of 33, finally provided the lead he had threatened against Boland, who then got the dangerous Beek for nothing when he shielded on only his third delivery.

Mitchell Starc then took over. After career-best figures of seven for 58 in the first innings, as well as a second defeat of Crawley in the morning, he sent Root’s stumps flying off a big inside edge before England’s inspirational captain Ben Stokes was caught in the cordon.

Controversy

Jamie Smith was controversially given behind Brendan Doggett, with a painfully long DRS review on the bowler despite clear uncertainty about the UltraEdge technology.

From 104 for seven, England piled up to a frantic 50 partnership as Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse took on a ring of boundary fielders, who shared three fours and four sixes.

But their luck ran out when the home side suppressed the counter-attack just before the tea break, with Boland’s four for 33 the choice.

READ MORE: Ben Stokes goes into full ‘beast mode’ as England hit back against Australia in a thrilling Ashes opener