Steve Smith’s brilliance propels Australia to a victory in the 2nd test and a 2-0 Ashes lead

BRISBANE Australia AP 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 - Ashes lead Day was a tale of two captains Set a target of for success after England was bowled out for in the second innings Australia raced to an eight-wicket win in overs either side of a -minute interval as serious storms brewed to the southwest Jofra Archer was bowling around kph mph under the lights and it only fired up Smith There were specific 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 test runs at the Gabba With Australia at - and needing just two runs to win Smith hit a six to finish it and finished unbeaten on from nine deliveries Jake Weatherald was not out on Gus Atkinson took the wickets of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne as Australia chased quick runs Tactical issues 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 a few encouragement for a sparse hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Gabba where Stokes reverted to chosen old-school test cricket and gave England a lead albeit a small one Bazball shelved England skipper Stokes curbed his attacking instincts dispensing with Bazball and pragmatically setting about reviving England s Ashes prospects England had resumed Sunday at - and took an hour and minutes overs to erase the first-innings deficit The Australian attack bowled a tight line and length and mixed it up with certain short-pitch deliveries in an attempt to entice the usually aggressive England batters to have a go Stokes and Will Jacks resisted the temptation for the entire first session knowing that a wicket would expose the tailenders It was a altogether 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 -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 fleetly with England losing four wickets for runs to be all out for in its second innings and Neser finishing with a five-wicket haul Stokes took a single to reach his from balls the second-slowest half-century of his career It was only four balls behind the he took to make at Headingley in where he scored an unbeaten to guide England to a stunning unexpected one-wicket Ashes triumph This time he didn t go on The -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 - Brendan Doggett dismissed Atkinson to make it - with Smith taking a regulation catch this time Neser - and Smith combined to remove Brydon Carse to end the innings Australia won the series-opening test on Day of the scheduled five At least the second test went late into Day The series continues The third test starts Dec at the Adelaide Oval with England needing a win to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes The fourth test starts Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney will host the fifth test from Jan AP cricket https apnews com hub cricket Source