Australian stand-in skipper Steve Smith, known as one of the best defenders of this generation, once again proved his title right. The right-handed cricketer dived to his left to pull one out of the ground, as a ball flew past Will Jacks’ outside edge.
The Ashes have always been considered exciting Test matches, but England have not looked promising in the Australian isles, having yet to win an Ashes match since last winning in 2010/11.
Coming into this Ashes, England have lost a match and are about to suffer another against what former England players have called the weakest Australian team in Ashes history. These performances were without their most prestigious players, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
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WOW!! Steve Smith brings Australia back into the game with incredible grab
The Australians had already broken England’s batting order; However, skipper Ben Stokes and Will Jacks looked firm in the first session of Day 4 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The 7th wicket, which took England past the final score, was broken when Michael Neser’s delivery caught the outside edge of Will Jacks’ bat and Steve Smith, who was standing at first jump, dived to his left and almost dug one out of the ground.
This catch from Steve Smith was extraordinary, as he caught a traveling ball, as he stood closer to the batter than he should have while fielding a medium pace bowler. An extraordinary effort from the skipper almost turned the tide in Australia’s favor.
DEFINITELY NOT! NOT STEVE SMITH AT ALL! WOW!#Ashes | #Thursday | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/4ziSJChGd4
– cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 7, 2025
England fumble again in the second set to score a modest goal
Once again, the English fumbled in the second innings of a Test match. While batting in the first innings, Zak Crawley and Joe Root helped England cross the 300-run mark, but in return, significant contributions from Jack Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc helped Australia past 500 runs without a single batter crossing the three-figure score.
England were already 177 runs behind, and at one point it looked like Australia were going to take the point by an innings. With every Australian leader bothering them, the English first team rushed towards the pavilion. The only partnership that helped them rebuild was that between skipper Stokes and Jacks.
However, after Jack’s wicket, Nesser got the better of the England captain and also picked the final wicket of Brydon Carse to conclude England’s innings of 241 with a target of 65 runs.
Michael Neser picks his first 5-wicket haul in Test cricket
With his recent performance, Michael Neser achieved his first win of 5 wickets. Previously, he had played only 2 test matches for Australia and had picked 7 wickets with best figures of 5/56 in a match.
However, this time he has 6 wickets in the game and takes his first five-wicket haul, that too with the pink ball in a Day/Night game, which is an extraordinary effort to pull. Mitchell Starc scored 77 runs and picked 8 wickets in the match.
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