Australia have won the first Ashes Test in epic fashion with Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon putting together an unbeaten 55-run stand to guide their side to a two-wicket victory.
Ahead of a rain-hit final day, every result was possible, and that continued to be the case when play finally got underway at 2.15pm, BST.
Over two extended sessions, the pendulum swung both ways, England at one stage appearing to be on the brink of another famous victory under Ben Stokes when reducing Australia to 227-8, still 54 runs short of their 281 target.
However, captain Cummins and tail-ender Lyon batted with a combination of resilience and class, defying an England attack that could not find the final answer to stop the recently-crowned World Test champions from moving 1-0 ahead in the five-match series.
With Australia needing 174 runs to win and England needing to take seven wickets, there was the potential for a classic battle to unfold once the rain finally relented and got underway in the middle of the afternoon.
However, that is not how things transpired during the opening two hours 15 minutes, Australia initially erring on the side of caution and England struggling to create opportunities despite generally bowling with accuracy.
Nightwatchman Scott Boland hung around before he edged through to Jonny Bairstow off the bowling of Stuart Broad, bringing Travis Head to the crease and with it a change of intensity.
During the first three balls of a Moeen Ali over, Head made 10 runs, yet two balls later he would fall to the spin bowler as he edged through to Joe Root at slip.
Australia looked vulnerable at 143-5, but Cameron Green combined with Usman Khawaja to put on 41 runs before tea, the latter reaching a patient 57 from 162 balls to frustrate England.
The tourists returned for the final session of the match needing another 98 runs, but a sixth wicket fell when Green (28) chopped onto his own stumps off the bowling of Ollie Robinson.
At this point, Stokes had kept the bowl out of his hand, but in fitting fashion, he struck with his 12th ball of the day to, at the time, take the crucial wicket of Khawaja, whose defiance ended with 65 from 197 balls.
More to follow.
