Steve Smith's Brilliance Propels Australia To A Victory In The 2nd Test And A 2-0 Ashes Lead

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 1— 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 bal