Australia only needed 90 minutes and 19 overs to finish off the English tail on day five of the first  Ashes Test and record a crushing 277-run win.

The tourists were dismissed in their second dig for 370, with Australian captain Ricky Ponting named Man of the Match for his superb 196 in the first innings which set the foundation of an imposing 602-run total.

Commencing play at 293 for five, the equation was simple for England. Hang on for dear life and hope for a piece of luck with the weather. If England were to hang on Kevin Pietersen would need to repeat some of the heroics of day four and see out the day’s play.

Unfortunately for the tourists, Pietersen failed to survive the opening over, flicking Brett Lee’s fourth ball to Damien Martyn at short midwicket without adding to his overnight 92. With that all English hope was gone and it was a matter of how long it would take the Australian to finish off the tail.

Geraint Jones cruised to 33 before chopping on a low bouncing delivery from Glenn McGrath, exposing the tailenders to the Australian bowlers. Stuart Clark pushed his case to be retained in the side for Adelaide with a fine bowling display to claim the last three wickets, maintaining the excellent line and length he displayed in both the England innings.

England captain Andrew Flintoff admitted after the game that his side had underperformed but was positive that the tourists could rebound after the drubbing in Brisbane.

"We've gone one down but there are some characters in that room, some real tough lads. As disappointed as we are, we can't mope around. We can't sit around thinking too much. We've got to learn from it, obviously. It's four games to go," he said.

"Australia put us under pressure from the word go and we took our time to get into the game. We've been in this position before and we'll be looking forward to bouncing back at Adelaide."

Ponting was, not surprisingly, very pleased with the ruthless effort of his team but knows that it is an effort Australia will need to continue if they are to regain the Ashes.

''I think through this Test match when we had batting partnerships going we were relentless," he said. "We didn't let them get back into the game at all. We really rammed home our advantage every opportunity we had.

"It's all up to us now and our attitude going into Adelaide, and make sure we identify the things we did well in this game and do them well again next week.''

Ponting was still forced to fend off criticism for not enforcing the follow-on after Australia held a 445-run lead on the first innings. He had come in for stick from former captains Ian Chappell and Steve Waugh, but said: "I felt the bowlers would have been better to have a break at that stage of the game.

"The wicket was only going to get harder to bat on, the weather looked good going right through the game, so those cracks [in the wicket] that were pretty predominant there on the second day were only going to get worse. I thought our bowlers could exploit those well later in the game.

"Also, the fact of getting England back out in the field again and maybe getting some of their bowlers, who looked tired in the first innings, to get out there and bowl again and try and wear them down that way.

"Those were the reasons behind it and it worked out really well for us."

The Ashes series continues on Friday with the second test in Adelaide.