Late drama at the Gabba as Australia overcome wobble to win second Ashes Test

Australia stormed to an eight-wicket victory in the second Ashes test on Sunday to take a 2-0 series lead as England succumbed on day four to a pace blitz from unlikely hero Michael Neser.

Helped by the catching magic of home captain Steve Smith, 35-year-old Neser finished with 5-42 in his first test in three years, leaving the hosts needing 65 runs to win the day-night match at the Gabba.

While Gus Atkinson grabbed two wickets, opener Jake Weatherald (17 not out) and number four batter Smith (23 not out) mowed down the target after the dinner-break, condemning England to a 15th defeat in their last 17 tests in Australia.

England seamer Jofra Archer had a heated exchange with Smith in the middle but ended up getting smashed for two fours and a six by the fired-up skipper.

Smith sealed the win in style, thumping Atkinson for six over deep square to trigger a huge roar from home fans in the crowd of 27,888.

“Archer was obviously bowling pretty quick and there was a short boundary behind me,” said Smith. “I thought I would try to get hold of a few, particularly as I heard there was a storm coming so I wanted to get things done.

“What I said to Archer stays on the field. It was good banter. He is a good competitor and comes hard at you.”

England skipper Ben Stokes described the test as “very disappointing”.

“A lot comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game,” said Stokes. “(We) need to think harder mentally, and show more fight.”

With Adelaide to come and three matches left in the series, Stokes will refuse to concede that the urn is lost after battling hard in a 152-ball 50.

But it would take something extraordinary to win it from here.

Only one team has ever come back from 2-0 down to win a series in nearly 150 years of test cricket - Don Bradman’s Australia in the home Ashes of 1936/37.

In Brisbane, Stokes’s England showed their fans little to suggest a Bradman-esque effort is within them this tour.

Australia, meanwhile, may only get stronger.

Their Brisbane attack was third-string at best, with the dogged but unexceptional trio of Scott Boland, Neser and Brendan Doggett supporting the outstanding Starc.

Champion quick Pat Cummins and elite spinner Nathan Lyon will likely return at Adelaide Oval from injury and non-selection, respectively.

As it was, the duo were hardly needed.

Australia’s pacers did their work late on day three, leaving England needing another 44 runs to make the hosts bat again when they resumed on 134 for six.

Stokes and all-rounder Will Jacks deserved credit for batting through the entire first session and pushing England past 200.

But as the overs wore on, the Gabba wicket showed more uneven bounce, and Stokes was doubled over in agony when a Neser delivery caught an edge and cannoned into his groin.

He got up to cut a single off Doggett and raise his fifty, bringing England fans to their feet to applaud.

It took Smith to turn the match back in Australia’s favour with a stunning slips catch to dismiss Jacks for 41 and trigger an England batting collapse.

Smith leapt to his left to take a one-handed screamer above the grass when the England number eight nicked Neser behind, ending a 96-run stand with his Stokes.

England duly crumbled, losing 4-17 to be all out for 241.

Oh how they tried. Ben Stokes, not unexpectedly, and Will Jacks very much surprisingly, defied Australia for more than three hours of hard-nosed and gloriously orthodox Test cricket at the Gabba.

This was anything but Bazball, more like Cook or Goochball, and the change of pace offered an enriching period of watching and contemplation for 27,888 spectators.

Why had England waited until the game was almost gone to try to respect the conditions and match situation? Was it really that hard to do if Stokes and Jacks could do it here? And would Australia already be 2-0 up in this Ashes series if England had deigned to be even a little more sensible?

Certainly those questions had to have run through the anguished mind of Stokes when he and Jacks finally fell after such grand resistance. And they only got louder amid the futility of Jofra Archer trying to verbal Steve Smith with only a handful of runs left to get. Too late, mate.

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“I think a lot of it to me comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game, this format, when the game is on the line,” the skipper says during the presentation.

“In small passages we have been able to bring the game back into some kind of control, and then let it slip away. It is very disappointing, in particular because of the ability of the players we have in that dressing room. We need to think a bit harder and deeper about those moments and show a little more fight when it is needed.

“If I could have put my finger on it I would be able to tell you. It is not a skill thing. It is not down to skill. You have got to dig a bit deeper and find out what the thing is that we seem to keep doing in the big moments of the game.

“We will be having some conversations that I will be keeping in the dressing room.”

Stokes’ 50-run knock wasn’t enough to stop Australia in Brisbane.Credit: Getty Images

For the second match running. Unsurprising, given his 77 runs and eight wickets.

“It takes a little longer in the mornings at this age,” he says. “But no, it’s still going okay, so hanging in there … it doesn’t take much to get ready to go. Still trying to bowl as quick as I can and hit the stumps every time. Just keep running in and see how we go.

“There’s no better incentive for bowlers than to bat as long as you can and not bowl any more. It was nice to put a bit of a partnership there. You speak a little bit about the tactical side of pink-ball Test cricket, and we knew it was going to be better to bowl with the hard new pink ball later in the day.

“To get through as long as we did with the bat … was really key for us to push that bowling innings as far back as we could. And we saw late in the day we got those rewards.”

Mitchell Starc starred again in the second Test.Credit: Getty Images

And he must still be coming down from that adrenaline rush. What got into him?

“It just felt right then to play a few shots,” he tells Fox Sports.

“He [Archer] was obviously bowling pretty quick to the short boundary behind, and I thought I’d try and hit a few up and try and get hold of a couple. Really nice spot there, and tried to finish it quick.”

Was it instinct with 150km/h deliveries coming at him?

“Little bit, and heard there’s a bit of a storm coming round so I’d like to have got it done … high percentage with the short boundary behind me so take it on.”

And what about that sledge session with Archer?

“That stays on the field,” he laughs. “Nah, it was good banter. He’s a good competitor, he comes hard at you. It was good fun.”

The home side go 2-0 up in the Ashes. Last team to win a five match Ashes series after going down 2-0? The Australian side of 1936-37 which featured Sir Donald Bradman. That six from Steve Smith will go down in folklore. Brilliant. It wasn’t all pretty today but this Australian team is so good at remaining calm when things don’t go their way.

Another Smith six - this time against Atkinson - gets the job done.

Smith in action.Credit: Getty Images

“Bowl fast when there’s nothing going on, champion.”