AUSTRALIA beat England by eight wickets in the day-night second Ashes Test in Brisbane on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Chasing 65, Australia captain Steve Smith finished the match with a six off Gus Atkinson over square leg.
England avoided a two-day finish as in the first Test in Perth but were outplayed throughout. Australia now hold a strong position to retain the Ashes with matches to follow in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
"Great day. First two days were pretty even, game turned when we were able to extend to get the new ball under lights, that was crucial for us," Smith said, after a verbal exchange with England bowler Jofra Archer during the closing stages. "It can be tricky with the pink ball, it changes really quickly and you have to adapt."
England’s batting again struggled apart from Joe Root and Zak Crawley in the first innings and Ben Stokes and Will Jacks in the second. Their dismissals came from poor strokes on the bouncy Gabba pitch. England also bowled short and did not use the new pink ball effectively, while Australia were without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
England dropped five catches in the first innings while Australia held theirs. A run-out by Josh Inglis to dismiss Stokes in the first innings proved important.
"Obviously very disappointing," Stokes said. "I think a lot of it comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game, this format, when the game is on the line."
England fell behind once Australia’s lower order pushed the total to 511 on Saturday for a lead of 177. England then lost six second-innings wickets under lights and ended day three at 134-6, still 43 runs behind.
On Sunday, Stokes and Jacks extended England’s innings to ensure Australia needed to bat again. They worked through the heat and moved past the deficit before setting a target.
England batting coach Marcus Trescothick said Saturday that the batting approach would remain unchanged despite the dismissals. But Stokes and Jacks were patient in the first session, taking singles and leaving balls outside off stump. They scored 28 runs in the first hour and crossed the 43-run deficit after 96 minutes, adding 59 runs across two hours.
Australia’s attack, effective under lights on Saturday, made little impact early on Sunday. The only early chance came when Scott Boland found Stokes’s edge over the slips.
The stand continued until just before the second session drinks break when Jacks edged Michael Neser, and Smith took a low catch at slip. Neser removed Stokes in the following over when he edged to Alex Carey, leaving England 227-8 with a lead of 50. Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Archer added little as Neser finished with career-best figures of 5-42.
Australia lost Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in the chase, but Smith and Jake Weatherald completed the win.
"A great game of cricket, very clinical," Inglis said. "Timing is a big thing in pink-ball cricket, when you're batting and bowling."
(With inputs from agencies)
