PERTH, Australia, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Australia has beaten England by 207 runs in the third cricket test and regained the Ashes trophy.
The Australians own the first three of the best-of-five match series, having won the first test in Brisbane and the second in Adelaide before wrapping things up Monday in Perth.
England started brightly on the final day of the current encounter despite being five wickets down in their second innings chase for 557 runs. Kevin Pietersen and skipper Andrew Flintoff pushed the score along to 336 before Flintoff fell to leg-spinner Shane Warne for 51.
Geraint Jones, who made a duck in the first innings, made it a pair when he missed a sweep at Warne and was run out by an alert Ricky Ponting before he could regain his crease.
The tail-enders soon followed -- Sajid Mahmood for 4, Steve Harmison for a duck and it was all over just after the lunch break when Monty Panesar was clean bowled by Shane Warne for 1 with the score at 350. Pietersen was 60 not out.
Warne fared best of the Aussie bowlers with 4/115, followed by Stuart Clark 2/56, Glenn McGrath 2/61 and Brett Lee 1/75.
Despite the loss of the Ashes England held for 15 months, Flintoff said they "would be playing for pride" in the fourth test in Melbourne which starts Dec. 26.
