Man of the match: Mitchell Johnson (8-113)
AUSTRALIA took a huge stride towards regaining the Ashes after a comprehensive 218-run victory over sorry England put them 2-0 up in the series.
Skipper Michael Clarke (148) and Mitchell Johnson (7-40) were the hosts' heroes again - but, in truth, this was an outstanding all-round team performance in which they outclassed England in every facet of the game.
By contrast, for the most part, the tourists' batting would normally be described as abject, except that it was often much worse even than that.
Instead, former England captain Michael Vaughan summed up their efforts at the crease quite neatly in describing them as "feeble".
Yes, exactly what I had feared in my match report for the first Test in Brisbane had, indeed, come to pass.
Back then, I considered if the die for this series may have already been cast with the "theme being the England top order's complete inability to cope with short, fast-paced deliveries from Johnson".
Sadly, the England batsmen did little better in Adelaide than they had at the Gabba - despite a much more docile pitch which was in evidence for much of the first two days after Australia won the toss and chose to bat.
The flat pitch gave the hosts the perfect opportunity to preserve at least the 1-0 lead which had been gained at the Gabba by batting England out of the match early on.
And, in reaching 155-1 at one point, it looked exactly as if this was about to happen. In fairness to the tourists, they then worked hard to restrict the Aussies to 273-5 at stumps on day one.
It should have been better than that, though, as England put down at least three catches with Michael Carberry and Monty Panesar at fault for two howlers.
Even on a relatively good day, then, the dropped catches belied a lack of confidence which has seeped into the England camp.
On day two, Australia were not about to offer any more chances and, instead, the theme of the day was Clarke's continuing love affair with the Adelaide Oval.
The Aussie captain has now scored six Test centuries in nine appearances there and averages just below 100.
Clarke also clearly relishes playing against England. Seven of his 26 Test centuries have come in Ashes contests, including three in the last five Tests.
Indeed, such is Clarke's dominance against England that he has now scored 2,030 runs at an average of 48.33.
In leading from the front, Clarke was joined by his vice-captain Brad Haddin who also seems to revel in Ashes combat, reaching three figures this time following two half centuries in Brisbane.
There was a touch of fortune for Haddin, though. Durham youngster Ben Stokes appeared to have made the wicketkeeper his maiden Test scalp when he was caught behind on 51.
But, on a chastening day in the field, replays showed Stokes had committed the cardinal sin of overstepping. It was a no-ball, and Haddin was recalled to the crease to continue making hay.
This was far from just the Clarke and Haddin show, however. Australia batted right down the order as, in all, four other men made half centuries, including Ryan Harris at number 10 who was 55 not out.
Even last man Nathan Lyon had the audacity to hit a six in an Ashes record of 12 in the innings as the Aussies racked up the runs at a good pace.
Clarke then declared for the first time in the match with the score on 570-9, a minor psychological triumph in that it prevented England from bowling Australia out.
It also allowed the Adelaide crowd a chance to see if Johnson could repeat his heroics at the Gabba.
Indeed, he could as England skipper Alastair Cook failed to make it to the close of play unscathed, his furniture having been well and truly rearranged.
Fellow opener Carberry and Joe Root did make it to stumps but it was a nervy effort with just 35 runs coming off 21 overs, and Root almost running out Carberry to the penultimate ball of the day.
Then, from the final ball of the day, Carberry would have been out lbw if the Australians had requested a review on the Decision Referral System.
Thankfully, though, the Aussies were content to walk off the pitch, happy with their day's work - and, generally, the DRS is having a much quieter series Down Under than it did in England when each day seemed to be mired in some sort of controversy.
It mattered little that Australia had not managed to take a second wicket on day two. Johnson returned on day three, rested and fired up as England failed to meet fire with fire.
First, though, he got a little help from his friends. Root had seen off the opening spell of hostile fast bowling but then got out to a brainless sweep to deep square leg off spinner Lyon for 15.
Then, just before lunch, Carberry - who had worked hard for his maiden half-century - fell to a brilliant catch by David Warner off Shane Watson.
However, the worst wicket of the morning session came in between those two dismissals as Kevin Pietersen clipped the ball straight to George Bailey in the leg-side for four.
It was a shocking shot which seemed to have a complete disregard for both the context of the match and the inexperience and the poor form in the batting line-up around him.
After lunch, England could keep Johnson from centre-stage no longer. The Queenslander was magnificent again, bowling a spell of 5-16 on his way to 7-40.
Twice, Johnson was on hat-tricks after Stuart Broad and James Anderson were bowled first ball following the dismissals of Matt Prior, who continued his woeful form, and Graeme Swann.
The second hat-trick ball was kept out by Panesar who went on to survive almost an hour for his two runs.
Faced with a barrage of bouncers, it was a much braver effort than many of his colleagues had managed, and allowed Ian Bell to make the best of a bad job with a stylish 72.
So, Panesar and Bell can emerge with some credit - but, after Anderson made a couple of early breakthroughs in dismissing Chris Rogers and Watson, Warner repaired the little damage with an aggressive 83.
Remarkably, Australia closed day three leading by 530 runs having led by 535 at the start of play. But what had prevailed in between meant England could hardly consider this progress...
Onto day four, and a positive Clarke declaration with the Aussie captain mindful of an unsettled forecast for the final two days in Adelaide.
Yet another England collapse looked likely when captain Cook played the latest braindead shot, hooking Johnson to Ryan Harris at fine leg for a solitary run.
Carberry followed soon after, caught by Lyon off Peter Siddle for 14 to leave England on 20-2, just the 510 runs behind.
Ultimately, England would actually bat through a whole day for the first time in the series, as Root (87) and Pietersen (53) belatedly found some semblance of form.
Neither could make the truly huge score which the situation required, though.
Indeed, with Stokes (28) edging to Clarke in the slips off Harris in the last half hour, Australia entered the final day needing just four more wickets.
Within an hour, they had got them. Broad fell in the opening over of the day, scoring a six into the leg-side before a similar heave from the next ball found Lyon at deep square leg.
Swann, averaging 3.25 with the bat and a hell of a lot more with the ball, then failed for the fourth time in the series to get out of single figures before nicking an unthreatening Harris delivery to Clarke in the slips.
And Prior was the penultimate man out, albeit having made a creditable 69 to end his own run of low scores.
Again, though, his wicket came from mistimed hook. In fact, 21 of England's 40 wickets in this series - i.e. more than half - have been to catches in the leg-side with eight of those caught on the boundary.
It demonstrates perfectly England's scrambled thinking that they keep going for the hook and the pull to the short ball, and expecting to get away with it.
If nothing else, it brings to mind the famous Albert Einstein quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
However, England look to be too far gone to save in this series, despite captain Cook's call for a period of introspection.
Certainly, England legend and now Test Match Special summariser Geoffrey Boycott does not give the tourists a hope.
"We have won three series comfortably, but we are going to get annihilated in this one," he said.
Perth on the west coast comes next, this coming Friday. It is a venue where England have won just once ever, back in the 1978-79 series against a weakened Australia side.
The pitch is expected to be hard and bouncy, similar to the Gabba, and Johnson - who has 17 wickets in this series already at a remarkable average of just 12 - will expect to have another field day.
England, then, may have officially lost the Ashes by the end of this week, depending on how they do at the Waca. Even a retention now looks nigh on impossible.
Indeed, although just a draw would do, only four teams in Test history have come back from 2-0 down in a series to get a result - and only one of them, featuring a certain Sir Donald Bradman, actually won.
Cook's men may want to set the sights a little bit lower first, England having now lost successive Tests by more than 200 runs for only the second time in their history.
Somehow avoiding defeat in Perth would be a start for the fact that it would keep the Ashes alive beyond Christmas and, perhaps more importantly at this stage, end home hopes of a whitewash.
Otherwise, if England go down to defeat again, a 5-0 defeat akin to the nightmare 2006-07 tour will loom larger than ever.
THE ASHES 2013/14
| 21-25 Nov | FIRST: Australia 295 & 401-7d bt England 136 & 179 by 381 runs | Brisbane |
| 5-9 Dec | SECOND: Australia 570-9d & 132-3d bt England 172 & 312 by 218 runs | Adelaide |
| 13-17 Dec | THIRD TEST | Perth |
| 26-30 Dec | FOURTH TEST | Melbourne |
| 3-7 Jan | FIFTH TEST | Sydney |
CENTURIES
148 Michael Clarke (Australia)
124 David Warner (Australia)
118 Brad Haddin (Australia)
113 Michael Clarke (Australia)
FIVE-WICKET HAULS
7-40 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
6-81 Stuart Broad (England)
5-42 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
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