Nathan Lyon moved past Glenn McGrath for second place on Australia’s all-time bowling list with one of the finest deliveries of his career.
England opener Ben Duckett had no chance as Lyon spun the ball viciously past his standard forward defensive stroke and onto his off stump.
The tourists were coasting at 0-37 in reply to Australia’s 371 until captain Pat Cummins struck.
Lyon stepped right up with two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls and barely recovered te rest of the day, finishing at 8-213 at stumps, still trailing by 158.
The 38-year-old, who was controversially dropped for the second Test at the Gabba, was introduced for the 10th over and he had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.
He had Pope caught by a diving Josh Inglis at midwicket to equal retired paceman McGrath’s career haul of 563 Test wickets.
On the last ball of that over, Lyon enticed Duckett to play the wrong line to a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.
Only the great Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 Tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia’s list of Test wicket-takers.
“They were my heroes,” Lyon said of the legendary duo.
“To think to be able to take over or equal Glenn, is pretty humbling,” he told Fox Cricket after the day’s play.
“It’s something that I’ll look back at the end of my career, or even tonight, sit back and try and have a moment because it is an extremely special moment.”
When asked about his magical delivery to deceive Duckett, he modestly replied: “That was a nice one.”
McGrath, who pretended to throw a chair in mock rage in the commentary box, was thrilled for Lyon.
“What a bowler. Nathan Lyon deserves to get that,” McGrath said.
“You wondered what impact Nathan Lyon was going to have in this game. First over, and that was a gem of a ball.”
It was a huge return for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth before he was told he was not required for the second Test in Brisbane.
He bowled 22 overs across Day 2 and returned 2-51. Cummins had 3-54, Scott Boland picked up 2-31. Mitchell Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the series, had 0-54 from 12 overs.
Lyon is not only second on the Australian honour roll but now up to sixth all time with only Muttiah Muralidaran (800), Warne (708), England seamer James Anderson (704), Indian spinner Anil Kumble (604) and former Ashes nemesis Stuart Broad (604) ahead of him.
With Lyon keen to play on until the 2027 Ashes and as many as 21 Tests to be played in that timeframe, he could end up as high as fourth by the time he retires.
England need victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and they are relying on a big performance from Ben Stokes to achieve it.
He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 4-71 just after the lunch interval when Cummins dismissed Joe Root.
Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet as he tried to turn his head away from a short-pitch ball from Starc that was travelling at 145km/h. A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too, just before the end of play.
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