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England 283 (Brook 85, Starc 4-82) and 389 for 9 (Root 91, Bairstow 78, Crawley 73, Starc 4-94) lead Australia 295 (Smith 71, Woakes 3-61) by 377 runs
London: England gave themselves a golden opportunity to level the Ashes series with a joyful batting display on the third day of the fifth Test against Australia at The Oval.
The home side piled up 389-9, a lead of 377, as Australia were once again hit by some thrilling strokeplay.
Almost all of the top order made contributions. Zak Crawley set the tone by driving Mitchell Starc's first ball of the day for four, laying the platform for an opening stand of 79 with Ben Duckett.
Crawley made 73 and Duckett 42, the same score as captain Ben Stokes, who was promoted to number three in place of the injured Moeen Ali.
When England endured a slight wobble in losing two wickets for nine runs, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow combined for a fifth-wicket stand of 110. Root fell nine runs short of a deserved century, while Bairstow was out for 78.
Moeen, batting at number seven, added a cameo of 29, but was part of a flurry of England wickets late in the day. Starc picked up 4-94 and off-spinner Todd Murphy 3-110 as England lost 4-19.
By that stage, England had already got to the stage where Australia would need to complete the highest-ever successful chase in a Test on this ground.
There is rain forecast for Sunday, though not enough bad weather across the final two days to match the ruined end of the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford.
England are looking to draw the series 2-2, while Australia are looking for the 3-1 win that would give them a first success in this country for 22 years.
Earlier, for the first time in more than a decade, Crawley and Duckett have removed questions over England's opening partnership. Both men end this series with their reputations enhanced.
Any suggestion that England might find themselves under early pressure was removed by Crawley, who repeated his sensational boundary from the first ball on the opening day of the series.
With Duckett busy and Crawley elegant, the England openers set the tone for the rest to follow. Australia's bowlers lost their discipline; fielders were scattered to all parts of The Oval.
They were only parted when Duckett edged a drive at Starc and was given out on review. Stokes, though, emerged to a stirring reception and picked up the baton.
Crawley and Stokes added 61 for the second wicket before Crawley's drive at Cummins resulted in an edge to second slip.
Stokes was angry with himself when he dragged Murphy to mid-on, ending a stand of 73 with Root, and, in the next over, Harry Brook edged a beauty from Josh Hazlewood.
