The morning session belonged to Australia on day four of the fourth Test in Melbourne as the hosts edged towards a seemingly-inevitable 4-0 Ashes series lead.
Ben Stokes got rid of David Warner (25), but England were unable to cause many other problems for their opponents, who added 113 runs to move to within 88 of another victory.
After twice being dropped by Alastair Cook, Warner departed when he attempted to loft a short ball over the slips, only to top-edge to Jonny Bairstow.
That left Australia on 64-1, but Chris Rogers (81*) and Shane Watson (36*) stopped England gaining any momentum by sharing a 78-run partnership to guide their side to 143-1 at lunch.
Australia's second-innings run-rate is currently 4.09 and if they continue at that pace they will secure victory before tea.
