England's Stuart Broad sets up another Ashes thriller at Edgbaston

Broad got England’s ‘fortress’ rocking in the evening session as he had Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith – numbers one and two in the Test batting rankings – caught behind during an electric spell.

With adrenaline coursing through his veins Broad would have loved nothing more than a crack at the man who occupies third place on that list, but Australia opted to shield Travis Head from the late pressure and sent out Scott Boland as nightwatchman.

Australia ended a gripping fourth day on 107 for three chasing 281, with all results on the table heading into what is set up to be a classic finale.

The tourists had made an assured start to the chase, with Usman Khawaja and David Warner putting on 61 for the first wicket before Ollie Robinson got one to clip the latter’s outside edge to get his side up and running.

England had earlier been bowled out for 273, an erratic but entertaining innings punctuated with dashing strokeplay but haunted by a feeling of impermanence.

There was not a single half-century on the card, with Joe Root and Harry Brook both reaching 46 and Ben Stokes contributing 43.

Broad said at stumps: “I thought Australia played brilliantly for the first hour. Ben Stokes said we needed to lift it in the field and we did. Any time you have David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith back in the pavilion you are happy but it will be a thrilling day tomorrow.

“Overall, the ball hasn’t really swung a huge amount. I just got wide on the crease and Smith actually nicked the inswinger. I was delighted to get him and Labuschagne because they average in the fifties, so when you are defending a gettable total it’s huge.”