Lyon moves to second on Australia's all-time bowling list. England struggles in 3rd Ashes test

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Nathan Lyon took two wickets to surpass Glenn McGrath at No. 2 on Australia’s all-time bowling list, and returning skipper Pat Cummins took his first wickets of the series as a relentless bowling attack kept England in trouble in the third Ashes test.

Australia resumed Day 2 at 326-8 and was out for 371 with Mitchell Starc posting a half-century before Jofra Archer finished off the tailenders to return 5-53, his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket.

By stumps England had struggled to 213 for eight, still 158 behind.

England was coasting at 37-0 in reply until Cummins struck. Lyon then took two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls.

It was a struggle the rest of the day for England, which needs to bat long to revive its chances in this five-test series on an Adelaide Oval pitch that traditionally favors batting.

The Australian bowlers and fielders spent most of the day in the field in temperatures hitting 40C (104F), but most of the heat was on England skipper Ben Stokes.

He spent around four hours at the crease, getting hit on the helmet and the body and appearing to struggle with cramping. His mood wasn't helped by more contentious outcomes from the Decision Review System technology.

But his defiant, unbeaten 45 from 151 balls and his unbroken 45-run stand with No. 10 Archer (30) at least helped England's innings go into another day.

Cummins was recovering from a back injury when he missed the wins in Perth and Brisbane which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead. In his first spell on return, he dismissed opener Zak Crawley (9) to trigger a top-order slide.

Lyon was introduced for the 10th over and the 38-year-old offspinner had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.

Pope's wicket allowed him to equal retired paceman McGrath's career haul of 563.

Lyon soon bowled Duckett with a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.

Only Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia's list of test wicket-takers.

“It’s pretty humbling,” Lyon said. "It is an extremely special moment.”

It was a huge comeback for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth and was omitted from the lineup that won the second test in Brisbane.

He bowled 22 overs for figures of 2-51. Cummins had 3-54 and Scott Boland returned 2-31.

England needs victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and is relying on a big performance from Stokes.

He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 71-4 when Cummins dismissed Joe Root. Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet by a 145 kph (90 mph) Starc bouncer. A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too.

“Ben obviously scrapped hard," England's assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said. "It’s almost like he focuses his best when ... it’s really tricky and tough and it’s conditions or situations that other people don’t succeed in.”

Cameron Green struck on his third delivery to end a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, getting the edge of Harry Brook’s bat with a ball that moved away.

Brook scored 45 before he was out in the 37th over, adding just one run after getting a reprieve when he was given out caught behind off Lyon's bowling but successfully reviewed the decision with the TV umpire.

There were more DRS dramas, on top of the contentious review on Wednesday that gave Australia's Alex Carey a reprieve on 72 on the way to his first Ashes century.

Jamie Smith was on 16 when he appeared to glove a catch to Usman Khawaja in the slips. On-field umpires referred the catch to the TV umpire, who ruled it didn’t hit the glove or the bat before clipping Smith's helmet and deemed it was not out. The Australians were in disbelief, with one player saying: “Snicko needs to be sacked.”

The next call went against England when Cummins got a thin edge from the toe of Smith's bat as it carried to Carey. The on-field umpire gave it out, a decision confirmed by the TV umpire despite a seemingly indecisive spike as the ball went past the bat.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

Australia's Mitchell Starc bats during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer, centre, is congratulated by teammates after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer bowls a delivery during play on day one of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer reacts after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

PHOENIX (AP) — Ta'Niya Latson scored 16 and Agot Makeer added 14 points and South Carolina played stifling defense to beat UConn 62-48 on Friday night, ending the Huskies' 54-game winning streak and advancing to the women's NCAA Tournament championship game.

The Gamecocks will face the winner of Texas and UCLA semifinal on Sunday for the title, capping off another March Madness. South Carolina (36-3) will be looking to win its fourth national championship. Their other three have come in the last decade.

UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in school history and for the third straight time left without a title. The Huskies also lost in the 2017 and 2018 national semifinals. This was the fewest points UConn had scored since putting up 49 points in a national championship game loss to the Gamecocks in 2022.

“Coach was pretty mad going into the half," Latson said of coach Dawn Staley. "She was yelling ‘Meet the moment! Meet the moment!’ We couldn’t be scared to play on this stage, especially against UConn. I mean, they were undefeated.”

The Huskies and Gamecocks played last season for the title and UConn came away with an 82-59 rout for the school’s 12th national championship. UConn also beat South Carolina handily during the 2024-25 regular season.

With less than a second remaining in the game, UConn coach Geno Auriemma walked across the court to shake hands with Staley and had an animated conversation with the South Carolina coach while pointing to the floor. Staley yelled back at him as assistants from both teams separated the two.

When the clock ran out finally, Auriemma walked straight to the tunnel and didn’t shake hands. The two teams did shake hands.

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what happened between the coaches. "But I’m gonna let you know this, I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong, to Geno, I had no idea what I did.

"I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand.

“I don’t know what he came with after the game, but, hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”

The teams came into the game as the second- and third-leading scoring teams in the nation, both averaging over 87 points per game. This was a defensive battle.

Leading 46-44 a few minutes into the third quarter, South Carolina scored five straight points, capped by Agot Makeer’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.

Sarah Strong hit a 3-pointer to get the Huskies back within 51-47 with 4:39 left. The Huskies didn't score again until Strong hit a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, after South Carolina had scored 11 straight points.

South Carolina clamped down on UConn’s two stars. Strong, who was honored as the AP Player of the Year on Thursday, had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but went 4 for 16 from the field. Azzi Fudd had just eight points for the Huskies, making only 3 of 15 shots.

UConn had its worst shooting night of the season finishing 19 for 61 (31.1%) from the field.

Trailing 26-24 at the half, South Carolina opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run to take the lead. The Gamecocks extended the advantage to 40-30 — the biggest deficit the Huskies’ had faced this season.

UConn, which missed 10 of its first 11 3-point attempts, then started to get hot from the field, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, the last by Fudd to get within 40-39. The All-America guard had missed seven of her first eight shots as she was blanketed by South Carolina’s defense.

South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson scored the final four points of the quarter to make it 44-39.

Both teams had cruised to the Final Four, each winning in the first four rounds of the tournament easily. The Huskies had been rarely challenged all season long, routing their Big East opponents by record margins.

Facing their first real test in a long time, they had no answer.

The opening 20 minutes was full of missed shots and turnovers. The two teams combined to shoot 22 for 62 from the field (35.4%) and had 14 turnovers. UConn led 26-24 at the half.

There were dozens of former Huskies and Gamecocks players in the crowd including Diana Taurasi, Paige Bueckers and Aliyah Boston. Boston was sitting next to Flavor Flav, who is a huge supporter of women’s sports.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) fouls South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards (8) during the second half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

South Carolina guard Agot Makeer (44) and UConn guard Kayleigh Heckel (9) scramble for the ball during the second half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson (00) drives against UConn guard Blanca Quinonez (4) during the second half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) shoots over UConn forward Sarah Strong (21) during the second half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson (00) and South Carolina guard Agot Makeer (44) go for a rebound against UConn during the first half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)