Ashes: Tim Bresnan hails 'best feeling' for England
Fourth Ashes Test: Australia 98 & 169-6 v England 513 (stumps, day three) Venue: Melbourne Dates: 26-30 December Start: 2330 GMT (25-29 Dec) Coverage: Live on Test Match Special on BBC 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW & online; TMS highlights online (UK only) and day's review on the TMS podcast; live text on BBC Sport website; live on Sky Sports 1; highlights on ITV4 Full match scorecard
Tim Bresnan bowled seven maidens in a 15-over spell
Tim Bresnan called the third day of the fourth Test the highlight of his career after bowling England to the brink of retaining the Ashes in Australia.
The Yorkshire paceman tore through the hosts' top order with three wickets for five runs in the final session on day three of the fourth Test in Melbourne.
With Australia 246 runs adrift, England should clinch the Test on Wednesday.
"If felt amazing," the 25-year-old said. "The wicket of [Ricky] Ponting is the best feeling I've had in sport."
Australia will resume their second innings on 169-6 and face an impossible task to save the fourth Test, but Bresnan added: "We'll take it one ball at a time.
"We don't think of the end result [yet]. We've done a lot of hard work today [Tuesday] and we'll do a lot of hard work tomorrow."
Playing in his first Test of this Ashes series and only his sixth overall, Bresnan's return of 3-26 was one of the keys for England on day three at the sun-baked MCG as he removed opener Shane Watson, captain Ponting, and in-form Michael Hussey in the space of only 19 balls.
"You've just got to use the conditions you get given," Bresnan continued.
"It has been very dry out there, and all day today, so the pitch becomes quite abrasive and there's been some swing we were able to exploit.
"Myself, Jimmy [Anderson] and Chris Tremlett have all bowled well, as has Graeme Swann, because although there's not a lot of spin out there, he's not gone for any runs either.
"On a pitch that's not doing much you just have to build pressure and wait for the mistake.
"The lads have played well. To have bowled them out for 98 in the first innings is all we could have hoped for."
Australia are staring at their second defeat of the series some time on the fourth day, chasing down a massive 415 runs to make England bat again.
Bresnan, who played a crucial part in England's ICC World Twenty20 triumph in May and is a regular in the one-day set-up, came to Australia as the fifth-choice fast bowler.
But with Stuart Broad injured and Steven Finn fatigued, the Yorkshire star was presented with the opportunity to play in the showpiece Boxing Day Test.
"I do like the big occasion and I do like being under pressure," Bresnan stated. "I do like being under the pump.
"It brings the best out in me - so why wouldn't it be on Boxing Day in Australia?"
"[Coach] Andy Flower sat us all down and said he would be very surprised if we went with the same team through the five Tests, obviously being so hard-fought and close together.
"We knew that there would be a chance for at least two of us three playing, so we had to prepare as if we were going to play. I'm ecstatic."
Australia opener Watson said the hosts would do all it can to restore pride and try to draw the series, but conceded that his team has lost any chance of winning the Ashes.
"In the end the most important thing is winning that little urn, and we haven't been able to do it," Watson reflected.
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