The fast bowlers made short work of England’s last six wickets and David Warner piled on the misery as Australia extended its lead to 257 runs at tea on day three of the third Ashes Test.
Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle took three wickets apiece as England was bundled out for 251 after resuming Sunday at 180-4, giving Australia a 134-run first innings buffer.
Warner (81 not out) and Chris Rogers (42 not out) then put on the biggest opening stand of the series to reach tea at 123-0.
Another England batting failure was compounded by a foot injury to Stuart Broad that kept the fast bowler off the field in the middle session, a missed stumping chance when Warner was 13 and a dropped catch when Rogers was 26.
Earlier, England resumed day three at 180-4 and needed a big contribution from the middle and lower order but lost six wickets for 71 in a stifling morning session, with Harris returning 3-48 from 22 overs and Peter Siddle taking 3-36 from 16.
Ian Bell (15) started with some intent, cutting and glancing boundaries in the first over from Harris.
The 34-year-old pacer struck an early blow, though, when he hit Bell on the knee roll with the total at 190. Umpire Marais Erasmus ruled it not out, but the Australians challenged and had the decision overturned on review, with tracking technology showing the ball would have hit the top of middle stump.
Mitchell Johnson (2-62) got his first wicket of the Test, when he had Ben Stokes (18) caught behind two deliveries after the ball hit a crack in the pitch and deviated to first slip. That seemed to stun the England batsmen as they slipped to 198-6.
England passed 200 for only the second time in the series before Matt Prior (8) picked the wrong ball from Siddle to pull and bottom-edged a simple catch to Brad Haddin.
Johnson got an lbw decision against Stuart Broad (5) and Tim Bresnan played defiantly for 21 before he was caught behind off Harris. Graeme Swann hit four boundaries in an unbeaten 19 but ran out of partners when Jimmy Anderson was caught off Siddle’s bowling just before lunch.
The England innings started promisingly, with Alastair Cook (72) and Michael Carberry (43) sharing an 85-run opening partnership the biggest first-wicket stand of the series but Australia struck back with some sustained, disciplined bowling and collected the key wickets of Cook and Kevin Pietersen late on the second day.