Result: England 620-5dec beat Australia 245 & 304 by an innings and 71 runs
Scorecard - BBC, Cricinfo
ENGLAND went 1-0 up in the Ashes with three matches to play after inflicting a thumping innings defeat on Australia in the second Test at Adelaide.
The tourists took less than 90 minutes on the final morning of the match to claim the last six Australian wickets in one of the most comprehensive Test victories in Ashes history.
Australia resumed on 238-4, still trailing England by 137 runs after losing their fourth wicket to the last ball on the fourth day when Michael Clarke was caught by Alastair Cook off Kevin Pietersen.
But the Aussies hoped they would still be able to come out with a frankly undeserved draw if Mike Hussey and Marcus North or Brad Haddin could produce a match-saving partnership.
An even bigger threat to England came from the forecast for rain but, at the start of play in day five, there was sunshine and idyllic blue skies above Adelaide.
However, the onus was still on the tourists to get the job done quickly.
England delivered on that front, and it meant they had dominated all five days of this match and the last two days of the previous one in Brisbane.
Steven Finn made the early breakthrough to become the leading wicket-taker on nine in this series alongside Graeme Swann - and this one was of particularly huge importance.
The dangerous Hussey had just made another 50 when he top-edged a shorter ball from Finn in an attempting a pull shot, only to see it fall into the hands of James Anderson at mid-on.
It did not take long for Haddin to fall next after Anderson, bowling another brilliant spell, drew him forward and induced an inside edge which was caught behind by Matt Prior.
Haddin had departed for just 12 and it looked like the beginning of the end for Australia who were 286-6.
Anderson then put himself on a hat-trick with his next ball as Ryan Harris became only the second ever Australian - after Adam Gilchrist - to get a king pair in Test cricket.
Harris, who was out lbw to Swann in the first innings, was trapped in front on his first ball again, offering no shot. Umpire Erasmus gave him out but Harris requested a video referral.
It showed exactly what England would want to see - an impact in line with the stumps to a ball pinning him back far enough to hit the top of them. Harris was out and he had burned one of Australia's reviews.
England made much better use of the review system two balls later when umpire Hill failed to heed a big shout by Swann for another lbw on North.
The replay again showed exactly what England had hoped to see: the ball hit pad before bat and it had been pitched in-line, hitting the stumps halfway up.
North was gone for 22 and Australia - who had failed to add a single run for the last three wickets - were 286-8.
Somehow Swann failed to pick up a second wicket in that over despite the fact that the ball came off the back of new batsmen Peter Siddle's foot and hit the stumps. Somehow, the ball had failed to dislodge the bails.
But, by this stage, England were so far on top that there was an air of inevitability about proceedings and, though Xavier Doherty bravely defended Anderson's hat-trick ball, he had no answer to Swann's spin.
Swann took an even more perfect off-spinners wicket to complete the victory, bowling Siddle through the gate and clipping the top of off-stump.
It meant that the Notts spinner ended the innings with 5-91, remarkably his 10th Test five-for in just 25 matches.
More importantly, it meant that England were 1-0 up having won a 'live' Ashes match in Australia for the first time since the successful 1986-87 tour.
And, without wanting to get too carried away on the basis of a single victory, England's win was so dominant that this match could be a watershed moment in the teams' rivalry.
It was Australia's first home innings defeat since the West Indies beat them at Perth in 1993 and, effectively, it means that England should expect more regular victories Down Under if the gap in quality between the two sides remains so stark.
This was the perfect session from England at the end of a perfect game. The only blot on the copybook came off the field with the news that Stuart Broad had sustained a stomach muscle strain and will be out for the rest of the series.
However, even then, England have replacements on tour in Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan.
They will all battle it out for a place in the side for the third Test at Perth in the tour match against Victoria which starts on Friday.
Meanwhile, Australia will expect to make another raft of changes with Simon Katich out injured and Doherty almost certain to be dropped in favour of Nathan Hauritz.
There may be even more victims of the cull after a nightmare match for the Aussies.
Indeed, it was a nightmare from the start for Australia who won the toss, hoping to take advantage of a typically benign Adelaide wicket.
Katich, who is out of the rest of the series with an Achilles tear, was run out without facing a ball and skipper Ricky Ponting and Clarke were soon back in the pavilion.
Australia were 2-3 having made their worst start to a Test match in 60 years.
From there, Hussey steadied the ship with a top score in the innings of 93 but, once he was out with the score on 207-5, Australia's tail failed to wag and they were all out for 245 on the first day.
On days two and three, England showed Australia exactly how to bat in Adelaide as Cook and Jonathan Trott extended an unbeaten partnership which had started in Brisbane to 502 runs.
Cook made 148 and Trott was out for 78 in this Test but the star of the show was Pietersen hit 227 from 308 balls to record the biggest ever score by an England player in Adelaide.
Even when Cook departed, Pietersen was supported by Paul Collingwood who made 42 and Ian Bell who was eventually not out on 68.
And, on the morning of the fourth day, a quickfire partnership from Bell and Prior added another 52 off 34 balls to set up England's declaration on 620-5, only the third time that England had scored more than 600 against Australia.
Better still, England had scored quickly - at more than four an over - and their wonderfully positive batting display left the bowlers with almost two days to claim 10 Aussie wickets.
Australia reached lunch on day four at 78-0 but England burst into life after the interval to claim the wickets of Katich, Ponting and Shane Watson.
Hussey again attempted to steady the hosts and it looked as if he and Clarke would survive into the final day unscathed until Clarke got an inside edge on the last ball of the day.
That late wicket changed the complexion of the final day and it left the Aussies praying for rain or another outstanding partnership by Hussey and Haddin.
But, once those two had left North with the tail, there was thankfully only ever going to be one result.
England have got their just desserts for an outstanding performance over the past five days in which they have outclassed Australia in every department - batting, bowling and fielding.
Take a bow, lads.
EARLIER REPORTS
Day four: Pietersen keeps alive England victory hopes
(close) Australia 245 [Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51] & 238-4 [Clarke 80, Watson 57] v England 620-5d [Pietersen 227, Cook 148, Trott 78, Bell 68*]
KEVIN PIETERSEN took the wicket of Michael Clarke with the last ball of day four as England kept alive their hope of victory in the second Test in Adelaide.
The loss of Clarke, caught by Alastair Cook after a huge inside edge onto his thigh-pad, left Australia on 238-4, still 137 runs behind going into the final day.
Earlier, England had added 69 runs in nine overs to their overnight score of 551-4 with the loss of just one wicket, eventually declaring on 620-5.
It was the first time since 1964 that England had scored more than 600 runs in an innings against the Aussies, and the first time in Australia since 1928.
Indeed, those are the only two previous occasions that England had surpassed 600 in Ashes history.
For this third effort, England were largely indebted to Pietersen but he was finally out for 227 this morning.
Xavier Doherty was the man to take the wicket, the 18th time that Pietersen had got out to left-arm spin in his England Test career.
But, by then, the Surrey batsmen had already racked up his highest score in Tests while Doherty was still left with figures of 1-158. He is unlikely to be seen again in the third Test at Perth.
After Pietersen's departure, Ian Bell was joined in the middle by Matt Prior.
The pair played one-day shots to make a quickfire 52 stand from 34 balls and set up the declaration with the lead at 375 runs, the biggest lead for any touring side in Australia since England in February 1975.
The pressure now passed to the Aussies but the openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich coped well early on.
Only Graeme Swann looked particularly threatening though James Anderson and Stuart Broad both bowled tight lines to restrict Australia to 78-0 at lunch.
It was really no surprise that it was Swann who struck straight after lunch, Katich getting the faintest edge behind Prior to depart for 43.
But the Notts spinner had only just started and Aussie skipper Ponting was his next victim, caught in the slips by Paul Collingwood for just nine to complete a miserable match for him.
In the meantime, Watson had progressed tentatively to a half-century but the Queenslander is notorious for failing to convert his starts and once again he failed to kick on.
Young Steven Finn did the trick, dismissing the opener for 57 with Strauss taking the catch in the slips, making it the 13th time out of 15 that Watson has hit 50 but not recorded a century.
After that, Australia enjoyed their best period of the match so far, adding more than 100 for the fourth wicket as Clarke and Mike Hussey gradually reduced the arrears.
But, with the partnership on 104, Pietersen produced perhaps the pivotal moment as Clarke misread his off-spin from the final delivery of the day.
The wicket gives England real hope that they can complete a deserved victory in a Test which they have dominated for four days.
Indeed, if the bowlers can pull it off, it would be England's first meaningful away victory over Australia since the 1986-87 tour which was the last time England won a series Down Under.
However, Strauss' men face hurdles in the form of an obdurate Hussey and an unsettled weather forecast if they are to achieve their aim.
Six Aussie wickets stand between England a 1-0 away Ashes lead and it would help England's cause dearly if those wickets fell for fewer than the 137 runs which remain as a lead.
Find out from 11pm on SkySports 1 if the tourists can take that giant stride towards retaining the little urn.
Day three: Pietersen pulverises Aussies as England extend lead
(close) Australia 245 [Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51] v England 551-4 [Pietersen 213*, Cook 148, Trott 78]
KEVIN PIETERSEN scored an unbeaten double-century as England amassed a huge lead over Australia by batting through the curtailed third day of the second Test in Adelaide.
England closed the day on 551-4, 306 runs ahead, as Pietersen took over from where Cook left off for a welcome first three-figure score in Tests since March 2009.
Cook was finally out shortly after the resumption of play on day three, edging a fine Ryan Harris delivery to Brad Haddin behind the stumps for 148.
The wicket brought Cook's extraordinary series average tumbling down from 450 to a still remarkable 225.
It also finally extended the period in which Cook had not been on the field of play in this whole series beyond 11 overs. If anyone deserved to put their feet up for the rest of the day, it was the Essex man.
By the time Cook was dismissed, Pietersen had easily survived a ridiculous video referral for lbw which reeked of Aussie desperation as the ball clearly pitched outside of off-stump.
And the new Surrey batsmen had also brought up his first Test century since his injury and a subsequent loss of form.
It would seem that KP is back to his imperious best as he was joined in the middle by first Paul Collingwood and then Ian Bell.
Collingwood made a neat 42, taking England beyond 400 by lunch, before the Durham veteran was trapped lbw by Shane Watson at the start of the second session.
Bell then took up the supporting role, scoring an unbeaten 41, as Pietersen pushed England past the 500 mark with just less than an hour before tea.
It was the first time that England had scored successive totals of more than 500 since the 2002 series against Sri Lanka, and the first time ever against Australia.
For good measure, Pietersen and Bell added another 51 runs - and Pietersen brought up his double-ton with a single off Xavier Doherty - before the rain came to save the Aussie bowlers from a further flogging.
This is not a match which any of Australia's bowlers will remember fondly. Three of them - Doug Bollinger, Peter Siddle and Doherty - have now gone for at least 100 runs.
Doherty's 0-120 off 24 overs makes for particularly painful reading while Bollinger has 1-121 off 27 and Siddle has 0-100 off 26.
Harris has been the pick of the punch with 2-84 off 29 overs while Watson has not done too badly to take 1-44 off 19.
However, this has been a woeful effort overall from Australia whose frequent misfields have betrayed their lack of confidence.
It could yet be that the Aussies are saved by rain. There was no play on the third day after tea and further unsettled weather is forecasted for the final two days.
If England are beaten by the weather and only manage a draw, it would go down as one of the most unjustified results in Ashes history.
England have dominated this Test match since its first over when Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting were dismissed. Cook, Pietersen and James Anderson have all been magnificent.
So, for time reasons, Andrew Strauss should declare on 551-4 before the start of play on day four as there is no way England are going to get bowled out by this Aussie 'attack'.
It would maximise the amount of time for Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Graeme Swann to bowl Australia out again, most probably for an innings victory.
Pietersen has noted that the Adelaide pitch has started to deteriorate and turn, which could be the cue for Swann to make his first big impression on the series.
And for psychological and historical reasons, declaring on a score of 551 would go a long way to burying the Test which England tossed away in Adelaide four years ago.
Then, England declared on 551-6 before being bowled out for 127 in their second innings on their way to losing by six wickets.
Of course, there is a no danger of a repeat of that this time.
Day two: Majestic England take complete control
(close) Australia 245 [Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51] v England 317-2 [Cook 136*, Pietersen 85*, Trott 78]
ENGLAND showed Australia how to bat in Adelaide as the tourists took complete control on the second day of the second Test.
More big records fell to opener Alastair Cook, and he was ably supported again by Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, as England closed on 317-2, already a lead of 72.
Essex left-hander Cook overtook Wally Hammond to hold the England record for the most runs without dismissal and he is also now ahead of Nasser Hussain for minutes batted without being out.
For the record, Cook has scored 371 runs over 1022 minutes since the second innings in Brisbane.
But the morning actually did not start well for England and captain Andrew Strauss was out for one in the first over of the day as the Aussies looked for early wickets to forge a comeback.
Strauss misjudged a good length delivery from Doug Bollinger thinking the bounce off the pitch would take it over the wickets when, in fact, it clipped the top of off-stump.
England could have been two wickets down as Trott survived on two separate occasions shortly afterwards.
First, Trott set off for a single that was never there and was only saved by Xavier Doherty's failure to replicate Trott's fine throw from square leg.
Then, three overs later, Trott presented a thick outside edge to Mike Hussey at gully off Bollinger but the Western Australia man put down the straight-forward chance.
But, having ridden his luck in the early part of his innings, Trott was able to reprise the big partnership which he held with Cook at Brisbane.
There, the pair compiled an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 329, the highest partnership for any wicket in Tests at the Gabba.
This time in Adelaide, Cook and Trott put on 173, taking England well beyond lunch and breaking the record stand for any wicket by an English pair in Adelaide.
Over the two innings together, the two men had scored 502 runs over almost 10 hours of play and, all the while, Pietersen had sat in the pavilion with his pads on in case of wicket.
To the relief of the home support, their odyssey was finally over shortly before tea as Trott, on 78, attempted a misjudged loft over midwicket off Ryan Harris' bowling, only to be caught by Michael Clarke.
Pietersen emerged to pantomime villain boos before going on to play a similar innings to Trott - skittish at the start then growing in composure.
It is only fair to expect Pietersen to be a little nervous after waiting so long to make an appearance and the Aussies focused all their attention on getting the talisman out cheaply.
Skipper Ricky Ponting brought on the left-arm spin of Doherty, Pietersen's Achilles' heel, and even allowed Cook a 'free' single to bring his new partner on strike.
It was one of a myriad of slightly odd decisions made by Ponting who went through a spell, most probably in desperation, of asking his bowlers to bowl short to all sorts of unorthodox fields.
Needless to say, none of it worked and England reached tea on 198-2, a deficit of just 47.
After the interval, there was more of the same for England. Indeed, it got easier still for the tourists as the hosts tired in the field, their bowlers unable to make a further breakthrough.
England scored 119 runs in the final session and Cook brought up his 15th Test century with a cut through backward point before Pietersen recorded his 21st half-century with an on-drive.
England finished the day in an almost unassailable position at 317-2 and a huge first innings lead looms if Cook continues his vigil at the crease throughout the third day.
It looks as if Australia will have to bat the best part of two days, perhaps slightly more, just to get a draw from this match.
Of course, England pulled off that feat at Brisbane and carried through their form to Adelaide.
But these are unusually testing times for Australia and their second innings will give England's bowling attack a massive chance to prove its worth again.
Day one: England capitalise on cracking start
(close): Australia 245 [Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51] v England 1-0
JAMES ANDERSON gave England a brilliant start to the second Test as the tourists took control at Adelaide by bowling Australia out on the first day.
Anderson spearheaded the bowling attack, striking from the start and eventually taking figures of 4-51 as England dominated.
The narrative of this match comes somewhat as a surprise after Australia won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on a wicket which has become notorious for being as flat as a road.
But, within 15 minutes of play starting, the hosts were in turmoil at 2-3 having made their worst start to a Test innings since 1950.
The first wicket fell to the fourth ball of the day but had nothing to do with the pitch as Simon Katich was run out for 0.
Katich's had hesitated on his run and it cost him dearly as he became the first opener in Ashes Tests since Wayne Phillips in 1984 to be out without having even received a ball.
But much credit must be given to Jonathan Trott for a tremendous throw which directly hit the side of stumps from 15 yards.
It was 0-2 after the next ball as Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting went for a golden duck, edging Anderson to Graeme Swann at second slip.
And the same two players combined again in the third over, as the out-of-form Michael Clarke edged to Swann off Anderson for 2.
At this point, Watson was joined in the middle by Mike Hussey who just fell short of a double-ton in Brisbane, but England were still sensing more early wickets.
Watson survived an lbw shout as England blew their first video referral on a ball that was in-line but always too high to hit the stumps.
Then Hussey had two narrow escapes. First, Anderson could not hold on to an extremely tough catch down to his left off his own bowling.
And, shortly afterwards, another edge off Anderson fell just short of Swann who was already looking for his third catch.
However, having seen off the threat of the new ball, Watson and Hussey belatedly settled down and started playing some decent shots to build a much-needed 92 partnership.
That took the Aussies to 94-3 at lunch but England knew they would remain in control of the match with another flurry of wickets at the start of the second session.
The early wicket duly arrived and Anderson claimed his third victim of the Test when Watson sliced a ball wide of off-stump straight to Kevin Pietersen at gully.
But Hussey was gently easing Australia back into the match and even under pressure man Marcus North seemed to benefit from his presence.
Hussey and North were eyeing the tea break having taken Australia past 150 but North could not survive, edging behind to wicket-keeper Matt Prior off the bowling of Steven Finn.
That left the Aussies on 159-5 at tea but North's dismissal also reunited Hussey with Brad Haddin, the pair having enjoyed a partnership worth 307 runs in Brisbane.
In a post-tea lull for England, Hussey and Haddin again looked solid, taking Australia beyond 200. However, this time, the partnership lasted a mere 51 runs as Hussey fell short of a landmark again.
After scoring 193 in the first Test, Hussey was out for 93 on this occasion, edging Swann's spin to Paul Collingwood at slip.
And Swann then put himself in with the chance of the second hat-trick of this Ashes series by trapping Ryan Harris lbw on his first ball.
Harris requested a video referral, claiming there was an inside edge, but hot-spot showed no evidence of this and he became the Aussies' third duck of the innings.
Xavier Doherty survived the hat-trick ball but those two quick wickets left Australia back in serious trouble at 207-7.
Shortly afterwards, the roof well and truly fell in on Aussie attempts to post a creditable score as Doherty was run out for six on a dreadful day between the wickets for the hosts.
Like Katich at the start of the day, Doherty appeared stuck in quicksand as Haddin called for a single, leaving Andrew Strauss with enough time to find Alastair Cook at short-leg. Cook passed the ball to Prior who whipped off the bails to leave Australia on 226-8.
Peter Siddle was next to go for three as Anderson re-entered the fray to claim his fourth wicket of the day, Cook taking the catch at midwicket.
And it was all over in the next over when Haddin skied a Stuart Broad delivery into the hands of Finn for only Broad's second wicket of the series so far.
England had bowled magnificently - all four bowlers took at least one wicket - and Anderson was the star of the show thanks to his aggressive bowling with the new ball.
Fears that neither of these teams would be able to take 20 wickets in a match have been allayed in the England camp, for now at least, and the onus has passed onto the batsmen.
Strauss, Cook and Trott all made big scores in Brisbane to ensure the first Test was a draw but Australia's sub-par score means that this is a big chance for a first meaningful away win in the Ashes since 1987.
England will be looking to their top-order players to carry their form into this match to take it out of reach for the Aussies.
After all, only a small lead may not be enough when considering the fact that it would leave plenty of a time in a game in which England would have to bat last and chase down a score.
But, at this point, the pressure is massively on Australia and their modified bowling attack, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus having been replaced by Harris and Doug Bollinger.
Ponting really needs his bowlers to deliver for him this time, and the Aussie skipper showed the strain by firing a few angry words in the direction of Strauss as England walked off on 1-0 at the close.
It always looks good for a team when they have the opposition captain rattled and England would seem to have Australia right where they want them.
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