Smith shines as Aussies beat lacklusture England

Steve Smith took a brilliant reflex catch to swing momentum just before Ben Stokes’ defiant half-century ended in a rush of England wickets Sunday, then he hit the winning runs in the second cricket test to give Australia a 2-0 Ashes lead. Day 4 was a tale of two captains. Set a target of 65 for victory after England was bowled out for 241 in the second innings, Australia raced to an eight-wicket win in 10 overs either side of a 20-minute interval as serious storms brewed to the southwest. Jofra Archer was bowling around 150 kph (93 mph) under the lights and it only fired up Smith. There were some theatrics involving the Australia captain and England’s strike pace bowler, with Smith telling Archer to bowl faster after ducking a bouncer. He then ramped him for a boundary and hit the next ball for a six to bring up 1,000 test runs at the Gabba. With Australia at 63-2 and needing just two runs to win, Smith hit a six to finish it and finished unbeaten on 23 from nine deliveries. Jake Weatherald was not out on 17. Gus Atkinson took the wickets of Travis Head (22) and Marnus Labuschagne (3) as Australia chased quick runs. England has been criticized for its bowling attack failing to hit the right lengths consistently, for its dropped catches and for its top-order again throwing away wickets chasing fast and furious runs. But at least there was some encouragement for a few hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Gabba, where Stokes reverted to some old-school test cricket and gave England a lead, albeit a small one. England skipper Stokes curbed his attacking instincts, dispensing with Bazball and pragmatically setting about reviving England’s Ashes prospects. England had resumed Sunday at 134-6, and took an hour and 36 minutes — 18.2 overs — to erase the first-innings deficit. The Australian attack bowled a tight line and length and mixed it up with some short-pitch deliveries in an attempt to entice the usually aggressive England batters to have a go. Stokes and Will Jacks (41) resisted the temptation for the entire first session, knowing that a wicket would expose the tailenders. It was a completely different approach to England’s usual attack-at-all costs mentality that has attracted wide criticism in the first two Ashes tests so far. The seventh-wicket pair put on a 96-run stand to get England to the brink of the night session, but that ended when Smith — Australia’s stand-in captain — took a stunning one-hander diving to his left at slip off Michael Neser’s bowling to dismiss Jacks. That was the momentum changer. The slide then happened quickly, with England losing four wickets for 17 runs to be all out for 241 in its second innings and Neser finishing with a five-wicket haul. Stokes took a single to reach his 50 from 148 balls, the second-slowest half-century of his career. It was only four balls behind the 152 he took to make 50 at Headingley in 2019, where he scored an unbeaten 135 to guide England to a stunning, unexpected, one-wicket Ashes victory. This time, he didn’t go on. The 34-year-old was caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Carey standing up to the wickets to Neser. Stokes twirled his bat in the air in disbelief and smacked his helmet as he strode back to the pavilion. At that stage, England was 227-8. Brendan Doggett dismissed Atkinson to make it 231-9, with Smith taking a regulation catch this time. Neser (5-42) and Smith combined to remove Brydon Carse (7) to end the innings. @@@