By Prathmesh, Australia retain control in Adelaide It has been another disappointing day for England, who are facing a huge, huge task if they're to avoid going 2-0 down in the five-match series. Australia will go into the final two days 282 runs ahead and with nine wickets still remaining, with England needing plenty of rain and a whole lot of good fortune if they're going to salvage any kind of result. Can England save the Test? Sir Alastair Cook has been speaking to BT Sport to try and offer a more positive outlook… “The draw wouldn’t have been an option had they enforced the follow-on. England now, in the morning, have got a game plan. They’ve got 180 overs to make every run Australia score as hard as they can, with their tactic probably to try and delay Australia from making that declaration. “Steve Smith will have a bit of a number to get to, then England will need ‘over my dead body’ batting to come.” What went wrong for England? Dawid Malan, top-scorer for England with 80 from 157 deliveries and part of that big third-wicket partnership with Joe Root, believes losing quick wickets is an area for improvement. "I think it's a little bit of a trend and something we did on the last tour as well and here in the last Test" Malan told BT Sport. "We get a little bit of momentum and a little bit of a partnership going, then as soon as the Aussies take one wicket we sort of lose two or three in clusters. "We can go from 150 for two or three to suddenly 180 for five or six and we're chasing it again, with them all over our tail. We need to get better at, after losing one wicket, making sure we get a partnership going again as quickly as possible." Dawid Malan, speaking to BT Sport... “After we lost those last two wickets last night we wanted to get a partnership going, which myself and Rooty got. We got ourselves in a half-decent position there, then once again as soon as the Aussies opened that door, they just jumped straight through it. “It’s frustrating and disappointing that we got ourselves back into that fight and then lost too many wickets in clusters there." Sir Alastair Cook, speaking to BT Sport... “That first session was probably the best batting I’ve seen from this England side in a long time, they put the pressure back on Australia with low-risk batting and scored at 3.8 runs an over. “We talk about Australia missing the experience of Cummins and Hazlewood and this was the big chance to get back into the series and bat big. “Root and Malan were excellent and then as soon as the talisman went, early after lunch, then 4-19 is something you just cannot afford to do on flat wickets time and time again. The game of cricket is suddenly, in 45 minutes, almost out of reach.” Sir Alastair Cook, speaking to BT Sport... "It's a bit of a familiar story. One partnership gives you a bit of hope, then wickets in clusters change the dynamic of the game." Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc: "I’ve always thought the pink ball behaves more like a white ball than a red – I’m not sure that means anything with my bowling. I’ve just had a knack of taking wickets with it, I’ve not changed my gameplan, my role is still the same, though it’s been a bit different this week with no Pat and Josh. "Nathan Lyon was fantastic, he’s been world class for a long time. He was fantastic, especially in that second session. For us quicks to bowl in partnership with him and knowing he was going to do a fantastic job was key in how well we went in that second session. Nath is a big part of our bowling attack and we saw even with Joe in the first innings and again tonight there’s a bit of purchase there for the spinner and Nathan took full advantage of that." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow me⬇️ On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/peter1105_/?r=nametag On Twitter https://twitter.com/pk1105_?s=09 On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/prathmesh.khandagale.902 On Web https://cricpdk.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ben Stokes was in a pretty hopeless position. He battled hard early in his innings, and Chris Woakes offered him some solid support. But once Woakes departed, he had to try and free his arms and make something happen. His 34 was entertaining, but there wasn't much else he could do other than swing hard. Video content Australia spinner Nathan Lyon to ABC: "It was an outstanding day. We're pretty happy. "England played me pretty well in the first session, but we went back to basics. "There were two world-class players which batted well, which they are allowed to do. We were leaking both ends, but as soon as we controlled one end, you create opportunities. "We're not rocket scientists, but if we do the basics, we'll create opportunities."