Ashes: Ruthless England subdue Australia to take 2-1 lead

BirminghamEngland cruised into a 21 Ashes lead with an eightwicket win before tea on day three at EdgbastonIan Bell with his second halfcentury of the match on his home ground following promotion back to number three made the task look unnervingly simple even after the early loss of captain Alastair Cook as England knocked off their target of 121 in 321 oversThey were held up in the field by the minor inconvenience of lowerorder resistance from Peter Nevill 59 and Mitchell Starc 58 after Australia resumed on 168 for sevenEnglandrsquos Joe Root left celebrates after England beat Australia by 8 wickets during day three of the third Ashes Test cricket match at Edgbaston Birmingham England on FridayPicAP PTIBut the long overwhelmingly likely outcome an unfeasible turnaround from the hosts embarrassing 405run defeat at Lords last week was never in the remotest doubt after Bell and Joe Root 38 not out had joined forces in the run chaseEngland first eked out the final three Australia wickets in a total of 265Then with a sellout crowd voicing delight and crowing at Australias misery at this famously noisy venue Bell 65no ensured plenty to shout about as the meagre target was surpassed to go one up with two to play in this Investec seriesNevills maiden Test 50 in just his third innings occupied 126 balls and kept England waiting longestBut Steven Finn finished with a careerbest six for 79 Nevills the extra wicket he added on a sunny morning after his heroics the previous dayNevills halfcentury came after a scare late on day two when Jos Buttler failed to hold a tough chance which would have given Stuart Broad his 300th Test wicketThere was another moment of fortune on 53 when Buttler this time did hold another one down the legside off Broad but umpire Chris Gaffaney did not detect the ball brushing over the bottom glove as revealed by HotspotIt was not a costly moment for England however with Nevill going soon afterwards to a second fine take by Buttler leaping to his left the thin edge confirmed on DRS to give Finn his sixth wicketThe end of a stand of 64 was a relief for England but Starc was intent on making them sweat a little more and completed his 50 too with a swat over longon for six off Moeen AliJosh Hazlewood helped him add another 28 until in the absence of the injured James Anderson who will also miss next weeks fourth Test at Trent Bridge because of his side strain Ben Stokes struck with his second delivery of the day the number 10 brilliantly caught by Root high to his right at third slipThen in the final over before the new ball was available Starc was last out when he poked a catch to cover off Moeen leaving England with a straightforwardlooking final lapIt was still 18 more than they had managed in their hapless second innings at LordsBut on a surface offering less seam movement than it previously had only swing stood in Englands wayIt was too much for Cook bowled offstump when he played defensively inside a very good ball from StarcBut Bell was in a hurry clipping more of Starcs fulllength swing off his pads for a four first ball and going on to a largely serene 68ball 50Australia did miss one chance to eliminate him and apply some pressure when Bell guided a catch to second slip off Starc but it was captain Michael Clarke who had himself to blame when he spilled the ballHe immediately replaced Starc with Mitchell Johnson but to no avail and eventually more merriment in the crowd at the expense of the Australian they prefer to mock mostEngland did lose Adam Lyth whose unconvincing form will be a worry to go with Andersons unavailability on the road to NottinghamBut after the opener fell lbw on the back foot to residual movement off the pitch from Hazlewood Bell and Root gave Australia no further encouragement in an unbroken stand of 73 as England won with over two days to spare