When England arrived at Brisbane for the opening Ashes Test, they were facing an uphill battle against history when they took on Steve Smith’s Australia at the Gabba.

With the hosts undefeated at the Gabba since 1988, the odds were stacked against Joe Root and his men. They were duly handed a 10-wicket defeat as Australia maintained their supremacy at ‘Fortress Gabba’.

The English will however, find a small glimmer of hope when they arrive at the Adelaide Oval for the second Ashes Test beginning on December 2. Of the 31 Tests the visitors have played at the historic venue, they have come out triumphant on nine of those occasions.

Their more recent record at the Adelaide Oval though does tip the scale in Australia’s favour. In the last 10 Ashes Tests played at the venue, the hosts have managed to win five with England coming out on top three times. Two other Tests between the two sides were drawn.

While these statistics still point to an Australian dominance in recent times, England will take comfort in the fact that the Test will be the first day/night affair in the Ashes. Under lights at the Adelaide Oval, English pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will definitely find the conditions more suited to their bowling than it was at the Gabba.

England have been on the end of some famous and infamous results at the picturesque venue. Here, we cast a look at how the visitors have fared in their last three Tests at the Adelaide Oval.

2nd Ashes Test, December 2006

Result – Australia won by six wickets

An Andrew Flintoff led England were on top of Ricky Ponting’s Australia for about two and a half days before succumbing to defeat in spectacular fashion. A masterful double-century from Paul Collingwood in the first innings had helped England post an imposing total of 551-6 before declaring. The Aussies were put on the back-foot early into their innings as both openers fell cheaply.

Things could have gotten even worse for Australia when Ponting pulled a Mathew Hoggard delivery to  deep square leg where Ashley Giles dropped a sitter. The Australian skipper was batting on 35 at the time and would ultimately go on to score 142 runs. England would still end up with a 38-run lead in the first innings but an gigantic batting collapse in their second innings meant that the hosts were chasing just 167 for victory, a feat they achieved with six wickets to spare.

England let slip a big advantage to succumb to an infamous defeat.

2nd Ashes Test, December 2010

Result – England won by an innings and 71 runs

Andrew Strauss’s England recorded a famous victory at Adelaide during their 3-1 triumph Down Under in 2010-11. Ponting won the toss for Australia and elected to bat first but an Anderson inspired England bowled out the hosts for just 245 runs in the first innings.

A superb double-ton from Kevin Pietersen and a century from opener Alastair Cook helped England amass a huge first innings total of 620-5 before declaring.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann was on fire in the second innings as his five-wicket haul condemned Australia to one of their heaviest home defeats.

Swann was unplayable as England romped to victory.

2nd Ashes Test, December 2013

Result – Australia won by 218 runs

Alastair Cook’s men were thumped 5-0 in the 2013-14 Ashes in a series which clearly belonged to pacer Mitchell Johnson who was on fire all through the Australian summer.

The left-armed pacer was in his elements at the Adelaide Oval too where his man-of-the-match display blew away England after centuries from Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin had helped the hosts put up 570 runs on the board in the first innings.

Johnson’s fiery spell of 7-40 would then rock England’s batting order as the visitors were bundled out for just 172 runs in their first innings. Clarke then chose not to enforce the follow-on as Cook and his men were set an improbable target of 530 to get in their final innings.

England would do marginally better in the second innings but a four-wicket burst by Peter Siddle meant the visitors would fall 218 runs short of the target.

A Mitchell Johnson inspired Australia blew England away at the Oval.