Ashes 2017/18, 2nd Test: 5 things we learnt from the third day's play

Australia continued their domination of England early on day 3, bowling out the visitors for 227 with Chris Woakes and Craig Overton the only two English batters to offer some resistance. Despite being equipped with the option of making England bat again, under lights, Smith opted to rest his seamers and let David Warner and co. have some fun.

But the pink ball swung extravagantly under lights and James Anderson and Stuart Broad hit a fuller length to put the Aussie batsmen in a spot of bother. The merciless Anderson sent down 10 overs in one spell, accounting for Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja, and Chris Woakes added the wickets of Warner and Smith to end the day on a much better note for the visitors.

At 53/4, Australia are in a spot of bother but with a lead of 268, they wouldn't lose too much sleep. England, on the other hand, will come out hoping to fire on all cylinders and then pray that their batsmen do the same.

#5 When Australia strike, they strike hard

Pat Cummins got rid of the big fish in the England batting line-up

All hopes of England harbouring a fightback were pushed to the backburner in the second over of the day when Josh Hazlewood induced an outside edge off James Vince's bat. Five overs later, Joe Root departed, Pat Cummins enticing him into a luckless drive, the outside edge snapped up by third slip.

Mitchell Starc nearly had Dawid Malan lbw and Nathan Lyon ripped one across Alastair Cook, who edged it to first slip. The first two hours of the day sealed England's fate in the Test. Australia were menacing, probing and relentless in their attack. Malan departed soon enough, edging Cummins behind to the keeper.

#4 Nathan Lyon all over the Poms

Lyon has been a monumental figure for Australia in the Ashes thus far

From effecting stupendous run-outs and intimidating the visitors in the press to bowling sensational spells, Nathan Lyon has been the face of Australia's Ashes campaign thus far. On Monday, he took things up a notch with an outstanding return catch to send back his rival, Moeen Ali.

A flighted delivery found the edge of Moeen's bat and Lyon flew to his left, caught the ball in front of the non-striker while fully horizontal in the air to send the Aussies into a frenzy. Fondly called the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Lyon has lived up to his nickname in the series thus far. He is now the highest wicket-taker in Tests in 2017.

#3 The Woakes-Overton fightback

England's fightback came through Woakes and Overton

Australia sliced through England's top and middle order with little difficulty early on day 3 but found the going tough against two obstinate lower order batsmen - Chris Woakes and Craig Overton. The duo showed stomach for a fight and resisted anything and everything thrown at them by the Aussie bowling attack.

Although they couldn't quite get England close to Australia's total, the 66-run partnership frustrated the Aussies and gave England an avenue to channelize a fightback. That, though, did not quite materialise as Woakes attempted to pull a Mitchell Starc short ball only to top edge it, the ball landing safely in the hands of the bowler.

#2 Steven Smith's surprising call

Smith opted to bat once again rather than enforce the follow-on

The evening sky had turned red when Australia bowled out the visitors with a 15-run margin allowing them to enforce the follow-on. Smith, though, rather surprisingly, decided against it. The pink ball moves around under lights, and with a brand new one available and England's vulnerable top order in sight, it was strange that Smith didn't opt to make the visitors bat again.

While the decision could have something to do with keeping the pace bowling trio fresh, an opportunity to further damage the psyche of England's listless batsmen went begging. Anderson and Broad bowled impeccable lines, generated outrageous swing and further vindicated the fact that Smith's decision wasn't too clever.

A staggering 80% of deliveries with this new ball have swung a "large" amount (more than 0.85°). Excellent start from England. #Ashes

— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) December 4, 2017

#1 James Anderson does a Neil Wagner

Anderson bowled a much fuller length and consequently looked more threatening

James Anderson did a Neil Wagner by bowling 10 overs on the trot from one end after Steven Smith opted to bat again instead of sending England in. The Lancashire seamer was much more effective, landing the ball much fuller than in the first innings and generating prodigious swing through the air.

The pink ball swings extravagantly under lights and Anderson thoroughly enjoyed exploiting the movement on offer. A fullish length delivery that swung away accounted for Cameron Bancroft as the opener nicked off to Jonny Bairstow. Usman Khawaja followed, in Anderson's 10th over of the spell. The seamer came around the wicket, angled one in to Khawaja and made it seam away, befuddling the no.3 and rapping him on the pads right in front of the stumps.