Australia has hailed its extraordinary win in the second Ashes Test as the greatest of its champion era after Shane Warne spun the series beyond England's reach.

Australia took a 2-0 series lead with a remarkable last-day performance at Adelaide Oval to turn what was destined for a draw into one of Test cricket's greatest comeback wins.

The home side bowled England out for 129 on a pitch which had been dead for four days, thanks to a masterful Warne performance, and then stunned the visitors by cruising to a six-wicket win.

The result was unthinkable at the start of play on Monday, when Australia was still 239 runs behind England's first innings 6(dec)-551.

But Warne bowled unchanged for two sessions to land 4-49 from 32 mesmeric overs to strangle any positive thoughts out of England, which lost 9-70 in 54 overs where every delivery seemed like it would explode.

Set 168 to win in the final session, Australia's batsmen cantered to victory to spark wild celebrations among the players and crowd, which increased as word filtered through Adelaide that the world champions were closing in on an incredible win.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Warne, who have played 249 Tests between them, hailed the win the best of their careers, and Ponting labelled it one of the greatest victories in 1,819 Tests played in 129 years.

"It's one of the all-time great Test wins as far as I'm concerned," Ponting said.

"To turn a Test match around like that, it just doesn't happen.

"You've all seen enough games of Test match cricket and I've played enough and Warney's played in enough to know that you have to do something exceptionally well to turn the course of a Test match around that way.

"Our cricket over the last three days has been as good Test match cricket as you'll see from any team."

Ponting said Warne, who reclaimed his place as England's bogy man after conceding the most expensive figures of his career in the first innings, had changed the course of the series.

England had appeared destined to take some confidence and only a series 1-0 deficit to Perth, where the third Test starts on December 14, but now must win at least two of the last three Tests if it is to regain the Ashes.

"He's changed the course of this Test match and it could even be the summer with that spell of bowling today," Ponting said.

A "knackered" Warne, who conceded only 29 runs from his 27 overs today, hailed the victory as the greatest of his incredible career, and the best since his third Test, in Sri Lanka, in 1992, when Australia fought back from 291 runs down on the first innings to win by 16.

"I bowled 85 overs for the game, so I'm knackered to be honest, the shoulder and fingers - pretty sore," Warne said.

"But once you get that momentum going, the adrenaline starts going, I love being in those situations. I have in my whole career, and just perform better in those situations than others.

"As much as the body was starting to tire, that adrenaline was going and of ... the (142) Test matches I've played, that was the greatest Test I've ever played in."

England captain Andrew Flintoff was in a state of shock afterwards and admitted it would be tough for his side to regroup in time to hold on to the Ashes.

"It's a big challenge for us now," Flintoff said.

"We can't mope around too much, but this is going to hurt, this game.

"Personally, feeling like this and way the lads are feeling, I don't want to feel like this again, so there's a big incentive for us."

Flintoff said his players were "bitterly, bitterly disappointed" after all their good work unravelled in the hour before lunch, when Ian Bell was needlessly run out and Warne bowled Kevin Pietersen around his legs.

Paul Collingwood and the tail stonewalled for as long as they could, but Warne's spin, bounce and control made it too tough for any of them to achieve their primary function - scoring runs.

Warne was taken for 1-167 in his first innings, but said England would face a much bigger task handling him on a wearing wicket.

"I read the rubbish (England coach) Duncan Fletcher said, that they were playing me well," Warne said.

"It's obviously a lot different in the first two days of a Test match when the wicket's pretty flat and you get guys playing exceptionally well.

"Kevin Pietersen was the only guy who really played me well in the first Test, but I still feel confident against all their players."

If the pain of the 277-run defeat in the first Test in Brisbane was bad, then this defeat will hurt England for a long time, as no other side has lost a match after declaring with such a high score in the first innings of a match.

For it to rebound will take more than just character, given Flintoff's ankle soreness and back-to-back Tests.

It is one of several problems for England - along with a long tail, the lack of penetration of bowlers Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles and James Anderson and a reliance on Pietersen and Paul Collingwood with the bat.

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