Peter Siddle provided the early breakthrough as England slumped to 1-31 in the fifth Ashes Test after being asked to follow on.
Michael Clarke enforced the follow-on on Saturday for the first time in his Test career, emboldened by Australia's first-innings lead of 332 runs at The Oval.
England reduced it to a 301-run deficit at lunch on day three, Adam Lyth the only man out after the innings break.
Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc failed to strike with the new ball but Siddle's miserly medium pace heaped further misery on Lyth.
Siddle continued to exercise the sort of control that earned him a recall after almost nine months in the Test wilderness.
The 30-year-old sent down a remarkable 34 dot balls before conceding the first and only run of his opening spell.
The highlight was a ball on awkward length that Lyth felt he had to play at, the resultant edge flying to Clarke at second slip.
Lyth's score of 10 capped a terrible series for the opener, who has scored 115 runs at an average of 12.77.
However, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell dug in as the tourists tried to repeat Friday's wicket frenzy.
Cook was unbeaten on 12 off 57 balls at lunch, having waited until his 27th ball to get off the mark.
England resumed at 8-107 on day three of the dead rubber, having suffered a collapse of 7-46 on day two.
Clarke had four previous opportunities to enforce the follow-on as Test captain, but turned them all down.
The 34-year-old, wary of heavy rain predicted for day four, opted to buck the modern trend in one final show of aggression.
Clarke had signalled his intent by starting the day with Siddle and Starc, wanting to rest Johnson for England's second innings.
It didn't pay off.
Mark Wood and Moeen Ali added 42 runs to England's overnight score in eight overs before Clarke threw the ball to Johnson.
Wood and Ali held out until 11.38am local time but their resistance came to an abrupt end courtesy of Johnson.
The left-armer removed Wood and Ali with consecutive balls in his first over.
Clarke had a quick chat with his teammates after the 10th wicket before asking England to bat again.
The sun came out on Saturday, whereas the previous two days of the series finale had been played under overcast skies.
"The wicket has improved and it's probably going to be the hottest day of the series," Shane Warne observed on Sky Sports.
It made for arguably the most ideal batting conditions of the game, but Clarke refused to change his mind.
It means both Clarke and Chris Rogers might have played their final innings for Australia.
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