Usman Khawaja held firm after an England double strike to give Australia hope of victory on a tense final day of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.
After Tuesday`s morning session was washed out by rain, Australia lost both nightwatchman Scott Boland and frontline batsman Travis Head when play finally got underway.
But at tea Australia were 183-5, needing a further 98 runs to reach a target of 281, with 38 overs remaining in the last session.
Left-handed opener Khawaja, who ended his decade-long wait for an Ashes hundred in England with 141 in the first innings, was 56 not out and all-rounder Cameron Green unbeaten on 22 in an unbroken stand of 40.
Australia resumed on 107-3 after veteran England seamer Stuart Broad had removed Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, the world`s two top-ranked Test batsmen, late on Monday`s fourth day.
But Khawaja was still there on 34 and by taking guard on Tuesday the 36-year-old became only the second Australian, after Kim Hughes at Lord`s in 1980, to bat on all five days of a Test.
Boland, sent in as nightwatchman on Monday, had already surpassed his previous highest Test score when, on 20, he fell to Broad, driving at a swinging delivery only to be caught behind.
But with Australia on 121-4 and the sun starting to break through the clouds, Boland had done his job with the bat on a pitch previously labelled “soulless” by Broad. Broad went round the wicket to Khawaja and almost beat him with a yorker.
England did have another wicket when Moeen Ali, struggling with a finger injury, struck on his Birmingham home ground. Moeen`s first ball of the day, a rank long hop, was pulled for four by Travis Head. But his fifth was a classic off-spinning delivery to the left-hander, taking the outside edge on its way to Joe Root at slip as a near capacity crowd erupted in celebration at Head`s exit for 16.
The wicket reduced Australia to 143-5, rewarding the faith of England captain Ben Stokes in Moeen, who had been recalled after nearly two years of red-ball retirement following a series-ending injury to first-choice spinner Jack Leach.
Khawaja, however, held firm against an England attack lacking an express fast bowler to complete a 143-ball fifty including seven fours. Australia are bidding for a first Ashes series win in England in 22 years, with England aiming for a first Test campaign victory over their arch rivals since 2015.
Also Read: I was just a bit more emotional: Khawaja
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