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England face an almighty battle to save their Ashes campaign after another dreadful defeat in the second Test at the Gabba.
They started the fourth day again with hope, but after a weak batting performance the previous night all hopes were gone and they were unable to do more than take eight wickets late on to take Australia’s 2–0 series lead.
Their size was reduced in Australia for the 10th consecutive time brisbane The bastion, where he last tasted victory nearly four decades ago.
43 back and six down again, captain ben stokes And all-rounder Will Jacques exemplified the worst excesses of ‘buzzball’ as he anchored for almost three hours.
The old-fashioned blocks and leaves gave way to flashy drives as the pair put together a stand of 96 off 221 deliveries. This was exactly the kind of steel his critics were clamoring for, but too much damage had already been done, it was too little, too late.
When veteran seamer Michael Neser dismissed both batsmen in consecutive overs – Jacques took an incredible slip catch on 41. steve smithStokes was cleverly caught behind for 50 – the writing was on the wall.
The entire England team was all out for 241 runs. Australia Chasing just 65, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne both lost to Gus Atkinson under lights, but Smith won a tense encounter with Jofra Archer to win it with a mammoth six wickets in just 10 overs.
Only one team in Test history, Donald Bradman’s class of 1936–37, has managed to win a five-match series after trailing by two matches and the odds are much higher against England. Since retaining the title in 2010–11, England have played 17 Tests in Australia, losing 15 and drawing two.
Stokes and Jaques began play at 134 for six, with an innings defeat still possible. The impatient approach of their top order had attracted strong criticism, but Stokes and Jack emerged with a complete change in mentality as they bowled 107 dot balls in the opening session of 24 overs.
In doing so, they gradually reduced the deficit and took a modest lead of 16 runs and were enthusiastically applauded by the traveling fans. Only 59 runs were scored in the session, which included four fours, but more importantly, there was only one moment of real danger – Stokes dismissed Scott Boland at the slip cordon after slipping out of the seam.
England continued to play cautiously in the evening session, but the pitch began to provide a little more support with a hint of uneven bounce. Jaques created his first half chance of the day when he turned Brendan Doggett to head at short-leg but the ball was quickly caught up the middle and missed the hand.
Stokes, meanwhile, needed a minute to recover from a powerful blow to the box. The captain completed the second slowest half-century of his career in 150 balls, but Smith was about to destroy the game.
When Jack got a thin edge on Neser’s fourth stump ball, Australia’s stand-in captain dived low to his left to take a sensational one-handed catch at slip.
It was a remarkably effortless catch, with Alex Carey standing up to the stumps, making Jack pay back for the same brilliant catch that ended his innings on the second day.
The Surrey man was motionless for a few seconds before accepting his fate. The spell was broken and Stokes hit the seam on Neser’s next delivery and the ball went into Carey’s gloves.
He turned on his heel, threw his bat in the air and walked towards the pavilion to thunderous applause. Stokes had barely left the field when Atkinson gave chase, mindlessly picking out one of five leg-side catchers as he activated a painfully simple bouncer trap.
Another lead from Carse completed Neser’s haul of five wickets, setting up the final game. Atkinson cruised the pink Kookaburra under dark skies, saving his figures with a few scalps late on, but Archer’s 90mph battle with Smith attracted the attention.
The latter won it easily, and with the vase almost safe once again Adelaide is set to hand over the reins to Pat Cummins.