Australia defeated England by 275 runs in the 2nd Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval to take an invaluable 2-0 lead. England now need to win all three of their remaining games to win the Ashes which looks like the most unlikely thing right now. Marnus Labuschagne was named player of the match for his 103 in the first innings followed by a 51 in the 2nd. 

England have been completely outplayed in both the Tests and they are heading towards an Ashes whitewash. The most disappointing thing for England would be knowing that this Australian team is nowhere near full strength and came into the tournament with a few question marks. Tim Paine left the captaincy and withdrew from the squad just before the tournament. Pat Cummins was named captain for the first time.

Australia played the 2nd Test without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood. Debutant Micheal Neser along with Jhye Richardson didn't disappoint. Alex Carey is making his debut. All these changes should have affected Australia but they haven't because England haven't been anywhere near international level. England's batting line-up was supposed to be boosted by the return of Ben Stokes but it hasn't. Dawid Malan and Joe Root have looked promising at times but haven't been able to play the big innings. Jos Buttler has been a shadow of the player he is. The keeper did try his level best to rescue the match with his 26 from 207 balls but in the end threw his wicket away as he stepped onto his stumps. Chris Woakes also showed great resilience with his 97 ball 44.

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After going wicketless in the first innings, Jhye Richardson picked up a fifer in the second. It will be interesting to see the changes Australia makes in the boxing day Test as Cummins will definitely return to the side while Josh Hazelwood is still doubtful. England are in a lot of trouble at this point. They might give a thought to bringing in Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley into the side along with Marko Wood. Apart from Jofra Archer, no other player is missing from the England squad which goes on to show that England's system of running a Test team is going wrong.

Lack of a world class spinner and maybe an opener is proving to be a big problem for Joe Root. Benching Broad and Anderson in the 1st game, playing Pope instead of Bairstow, not playing Mark Wood in the 2nd game are the big decisions that have massively backfired. At this point England would just be hoping that they don't lose the series 5-0. Australia now have a perfect opportunity to whitewash their eternal rivals.