England could not last until lunch as Australia blasted their way to victory in the opening Ashes Test in Brisbane today.

Defeat was inevitable for the tourists who had begun the fi-nal day 354 runs behind on 293 for five.

And the Aussies needed only 20.1 overs to complete the demolition job with seamer Stuart Clark mopping up the tail.

England's only glimmer of hope was Kevin Pietersen who started the session on 92, need-ing another eight runs for his sixth Test century.

But he lasted only four balls as the Hampshire man caved in to Brett Lee with the new ball.

Pietersen tried to flick the ball off his legs through mid-wicket but mistimed the shot and turned a catch to Damien Mar-tyn.

Now it was down to the weather with thunderstorms forecast for later in the day - if England could survive that long.

Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones tried to be positive and took the attack to the Australian with several boundaries in a 29-run stand with Ashley Giles.

But having reached 33 from 48 balls, Jones fell victim to Glenn McGrath and edged on to his stumps from a ball which kept low.

Giles, second top scorer in Eng-land's woeful first innings, again chipped in with runs. He made 23 before Clark tempted him forward and found the edge which Shane Warne gobbled up at first slip.

Clark, named man of the series in South Africa earlier this year, went in for the kill and the same combination did for Matthew Hoggard six overs later.

And Clark finished the job with figures of four for 72 when last man Steve Harmison holed out to McGrath in the deep.

Skipper Andrew Flintoff swal-lowed his disappointment by insisting that England will pick themselves up for the Adelaide Test which starts on Friday.

Flintoff said: "There are some characters in that room and some really tough lads. We can't mope around and sit around thinking too much.

"Some of us are in a position we've been in before, 1-0 down in an Ashes series with four to play, and we're going to take the positives that we can take out of this game."