Steven Finn, with a five-wicket haul on his return to Test cricket, has bowled England to the verge of taking a 2-1 lead in the series. At one time, a match played at such a dizzying pace it seemed hard to keep up was heading towards a finish inside two days, with Australia’s second innings, midway through a lengthy final session, in tatters once more at 111 for six, still 34 runs adrift of making England bat again.

Peter Nevill and Mitchell Johnson got their heads down, batted sensibly where others had been charitable, and with the wicketkeeper playing the longest innings of this hectic game so far in terms of balls received, put on a 42-run partnership that gave Australia the slenderest of leads before Johnson became Finn’s fifth victim. The third day will find Australia in desperate straits on 168 for seven, a lead of 23, Nevill having faced 117 balls for his unbeaten 37.

Earlier, England had managed to establish an important lead of 145, thanks largely to Joe Root’s ebullient 63, and an eighth-wicket stand of 87 between Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad that may, ultimately, prove decisive. Moeen rode his luck early on but then played with flair and confidence, pulling Johnson and once belting him over the top of extra cover, and was finally ninth out for 59, which contained 11 fours.

Broad, who made 31, was an admirable partner, batting with great diligence in a manner not seen since before he suffered the blow to his nose during last summer’s fourth Test against India at Old Trafford while trying to fend off a bouncer from Varun Aaron.

For England, the only real blot on an otherwise compelling second day came when Jimmy Anderson, in the middle of his ninth over, walked from the field, holding his left side below the rib cage. Given that he had delivered three balls in the over, and had been stretching between deliveries, it seemed as if he was being cautious more than anything.

The fourth Test starts next Thursday at Trent Bridge, a ground where Anderson reigns supreme, and indeed took 10 wickets to help beat Australia there two years ago. He will be desperate to play having not missed one of the past 24 Ashes matches. The frenetic nature of this match, and the relatively little bowling he has had to do, means that he will have a week to recover.

The England pacemen have been magnificent, utilising the conditions perfectly, and after Anderson’s masterclass in the first innings, it was Finn who, having conceded 14 runs from his single over at the City end, ripped out Australia’s middle order in a devastating spell from the Pavilion end after the tea interval, including the wickets of Steve Smith and the captain Michael Clarke for the second time in the match.

Until Nevill and Johnson came together, the only resistance had come from David Warner, who batted thrillingly but by no means recklessly. He reached a 35-ball half century, that equalled the fastest, by Graham Yallop, in an Ashes Test, and went on to make 77 out of that 111, before he top edged a steepler to extra cover in attempting to flick Anderson to the onside. Finn returned later though to remove Johnson with his first ball back, and ended a memorable day with figures of five for 45.

Australia have had their chances to get back into the match but have failed to seize them. England had resumed on 133 for three, a deficit of three runs, and the chance, with clearer skies, to establish a sizeable lead. But by the time Johnson had completed his first over of the morning, the balance had already shifted, as he produced the two nastiest deliveries of the series – short, skiddy, fast and heading for the throat – to have Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes caught at the wicket. Mystifyingly he was unable to reproduce anything close to it again during the England innings. At one stage, with the wicket of Jos Buttler going to Nathan Lyon, and the wicket already taking considerable spin, the England lead, with seven wickets gone, had been only 54.

There was a game still to be won at that point but none of Australia’s bowlers was able to rise to the occasion. At Lord’s they were, collectively, devastating, their pace and bounce decisive. But in Cardiff, and now Edgbaston, where there has been sideways movement in the air and from the pitch, they have been poor and occasionally lamentable.

Johnson began to spray the ball around, Josh Hazlewood was unable to find a consistent line or length, and there was talk of reviving the old gag about a codicil in a will asking for ashes to be scattered by Mitchell Starc.

In fact this was a pitch that, as well as it helped the England seamers, ought to have been exploited by Hazlewood and Starc in a way that two similar bowlers, New Zealand’s Tim Southee and Trent Boult, would certainly have done.

After the performance of Australia’s attack when bowling to Root and Ian Bell on the first evening, it is said that the riot act was read to the bowlers, and now, there must be huge regret that they did not have Ryan Harris available, or considered that Peter Siddle might have been a more than viable option.

The transformation in Finn has been heartening, for he has handled himself with great dignity during a trying time in his cricket life. Warner certainly got stuck into his first over, although the bowler may have been hampered by the footholds. Alastair Cook’s decision for him to change ends shortly before tea, was a shrewd one and brought instant dividends when Smith attempted to pull his second ball and skied to Buttler.

After the interval, Finn, roared on by the crowd, was irresistible, bowling with genuine pace – up to 92mph at one stage – accuracy and consistency. In the space of two balls, Clarke, a shadow of his former self with the bat, edged low to fourth slip where Adam Lyth caught a low chance superbly, and Adam Voges was comfortably taken at second slip by Bell.

The Australia captain now has scores of 38, four, seven, 10 and three in the series and if it may have started with bullish talk of Cook being under pressure, that has switched sides now. When Mitchell Marsh was comprehensively bowled, Finn had taken four for 34, three of the wickets for 12 runs in 17 deliveries after tea.