Birmingham, Aug 5 (IANS): Australia made big strides towards ensuring victory in the first Ashes Test in the first session of the final day at Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Monday.

Chasing 398, England lost four wickets in the first session and Australia now need six wickets to seal their first victory at Edgbaston in any format of the game since 2001.

Nathan Lyon skittled out Jason Roy, Joe Root and Joe Denly between the 20th and 29th overs while Pat Cummins dismissed first innings centurion Rory Burns in the 10th over. England were 85/4 at the break, trailing Australia by 313 runs.

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were in the middle when the first session drew to a close. With Moeen Ali's batting form taking a dip and Chris Woakes being the only other recognised batsman after Ali, Australia will be keen to break this partnership and inch closer to taking 1-0 lead in the series.

Brief scores: 1st innings: Australia: 284 all out (Steve Smith 144, Broad 5/86); England: 374 all out (Rory Burns 133, Nathan Lyon 3/112); 2nd innings: Australia: 487/7 declared (Steve Smith 144, Matthew Wade 110, Ben Stokes 3/85); England: 85/4 (Joe Root 28, Nathan Lyon 3/31)