Australia beat England by eight wickets at the Gabba in the pink ball Test to take a 2-0 series lead. But more than the result it was the late evening tussle between Jofra Archer and Steve Smith that became a talking point. The Incident took place when Smith came out to bat in the eighth over after Gus Atkinson dismissed Marnus Labuschagne. The duo became involved in a heated verbal altercation during the final session of Day 4, and neither of them was willing to back down.
It was box office stuff and the battle was eventually won by Steve Smith, as he hammered Archer for 4, 4, and 6 in the ninth over of the final innings. After getting a boundary on the first ball of the ninth over, Smith made his intentions clear. However, things reached a flashpoint after the second ball as the Australian great had a thing or two to say to the English pacer. Bowl fast when there is nothing on, champion,” said Smith while looking at Archer, and this clearly riled up the England quick.
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Archer then followed up with a bouncer and Smith somehow managed to get a boundary off the delivery. Jofra Archer, who was constantly riling up deliveries in a range of 150kmph, walked towards Steve Smith to say a few words. Smith didn’t take a backseat, and the war of words continued between the two with Smith eventually finishing the game with a six.
Smith scored 23 runs in the second innings and it looked like the battle was too little too late from Jofra Archer. It was good banter," Smith told during the post match press conference "He's a good competitor, he comes hard at you, so it was good fun."
The showdown brought the Gabba crowd to life, and brought out the other side of Ricky Ponting in commentary box, with the former Australian captain going with Smith. "Jofra's finally come to life, six days into the series, when the second Test match is gone he starts chirping," Ponting said during 7's coverage. "Too late for that, champ … too late boys, you've had your chance for four days. You haven't been good enough, it's too late to start (now)." The third match of the Ashes starts on December 17 at Adelaide and this incident will surely bring more eye balls to the next test when these two players face off once again.
