Brisbane, Dec 5 (UNI) Australia tightened their grip on the Day 2 proceedings of the pink-ball Test at the Gabba, reaching 378 for 6 in 73 overs at stumps after England were bowled out for 334 earlier in the morning.
The hosts, fuelled by significant contributions across the top and middle order, finished the day with a lead of 44 runs and four wickets in hand.
England resumed at 325 for 9 and added just nine runs before being dismissed in 76.2 overs. Joe Root, completing a classic Test hundred, advanced from his overnight 135 to finish unbeaten on 138, while Jofra Archer’s brisk 38 ended when he miscued a pull to deep backward square leg, where Marnus Labuschagne pulled off a diving catch off Brendan Doggett.
Australia’s reply began with a blistering opening stand as Jake Weatherald and Travis Head raced to 50 in 60 balls. Weatherald dominated the scoring with an authoritative 72 off 78 balls, striking 12 fours and a six before Archer trapped him lbw with a full, dipping yorker.
Head (33) fell to Brydon Carse after an earlier reprieve, leaving Australia at 130 for 1 by lunch.
Labuschagne and Steven Smith then consolidated with half-centuries of their own. Labuschagne, who reached his 25th Test fifty, made a fluent 65 off 78 balls before Ben Stokes removed him with a sharp rising delivery that carried to the keeper.
Smith battled through a painful blow on the elbow and several streaky edges to post 61 off 85 balls, featuring five fours and two sixes, before Carse dismissed him with a superb one-handed catch by Will Jacks.
Cameron Green added a vital 45 off 57 balls in an innings laced with seven boundaries, but Carse again broke through, bowling him as he backed away. Australia’s middle-order wobble continued when Stokes bowled Josh Inglis for 23, leaving the innings at 292 for 5.
Alex Carey held firm with an assured 46 not out, surviving dropped catches and producing crisp strokeplay through the off side, while Michael Neser (15 not out) offered steady support late in the session.
Australia crossed 300 in 58.3 overs and later the 350 mark in 69.1 overs, capitalising on England’s five dropped catches.
England also burned a review against Neser late in the evening, compounding a tough day in the field. Attendance for the day was 36,573.
At close of play, Australia were well placed at with Carey approaching a deserved half-century and Neser settled at the other end.
Brief scores: England 334 all out in 76.2 overs (Root 138 not out, Archer 38; Brendan Doggett, Brydon Carse, Ben Stokes among wickets), Australia 378/6 in 73 overs (Weatherald 72, Labuschagne 65, Smith 61, Carey 46 not out; Carse, Stokes struck late).
