Tom Dean hailed Team England’s swimmers for taking the battle to a strong Australian outfit after a thrilling 4x200m freestyle relay final in Glasgow.

Dean combined with James Guy, Max Litchfield and Gabriel Shepherd to claim silver behind their green and gold rivals in a pulsating race at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

After a brilliant swim from Guy, England and Australia set off for the final leg with little to separate them but it was the Australians who clung on for glory in Games record time.

Wales pipped Scotland to the final spot on the podium as Olympic champions Dean, Guy, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards all raced against each other in Scotland.

Dean, 26, said: “Representing England is special. It gives other lads chances to get on the relay who might not race it at the Olympic Games, which is good fun.

“For a small nation, we punched well above our weight and we gave the Aussies a real run for their money tonight.

“They are the powerhouses of men's and women's freestyle, so to take the race to them is exactly what we wanted to do.

“We spoke tactics a lot this afternoon. We've got young guys, Gabe, who's 18, stepping up. We've got Max, who's 31, and they've got different levels of experience.

“For Gabe to walk out and put a real solid split there, me and Jimmy in the engine room, Jimmy splitting one of his fastest times ever, and then Max put his body on the line.

“I'll tell you what, that man's got cojones on him because that was a real, real great swim for me.

Adam Ramsay-Peaty bounced back after a ‘whirlwind’ 24 hours to book his place in the 50m breaststroke final.

The four-time Commonwealth champion, 31, claimed a disappointing bronze in his favoured 100m event on Saturday night.

But he summoned all his powers of resilience to finish second in his heat over half the distance and keep his title defence from Birmingham alive.

Ramsay-Peaty, a two-time gold medallist in Glasgow 12 years ago, touched the wall in 26.82s behind South African Michael Houlie as English compatriot Max Morgan finished sixth.

Ramsay-Peaty, who will now bid for a fifth Commonwealth title at the Tollcross Centre on Monday night, said: “It has been a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest.

“It's not something I'm unfamiliar with, but that's sport. You're going to get knocked down at times, and you're going to make mistakes.

“What matters is how quickly you can learn from them, move on, and turn things around. That's what I was able to do tonight, and now the focus shifts to tomorrow.

“Yesterday wasn't ideal, but people sometimes forget that I haven't been doing this consistently for the last two years. Even I forget that sometimes.

“Racing in finals takes getting used to, and if you haven't been doing it regularly, it's not easy. But every final I race in gives me more confidence and experience, and I think that'll really help going forward.”

Elsewhere, there were medals for Team England in the men’s 200m backstroke as Oliver Morgan and Luke Greenbank bagged silver and bronze.

Morgan, 23, claimed his third silver of the Games while Greenbank, 28, won his maiden individual medal on the Commonwealth stage.

“I’m really happy with that – it’s a quality field so to come away with a silver gives me great confidence for the 100m,” Morgan said.

“Coming in I hadn’t won a long course international medal – so three races and three silvers, hopefully we can turn them to gold in the relays and 100m later in the week.”

Experienced Greenbank added: “I’ve now actually won every medal at every championship we have apart from Olympic gold, so it’s a funny one.

“It’s kind of nice getting the bronze – I’m not saying I would have preferred it to a higher medal but it’s nice to almost complete the set.”