The Ashes fuse was well and truly lit during a fiery Jofra Archer over, with Steve Smith delivering a brutal barb to the English quick in a battle for the ages.
Archer was consistently hitting speeds north of 150 kmph in the fourth innings, despite Australia needing only 65 runs to take a 2-0 series lead.
As the ninth over began, and Smith having only just entered the crease, Archer fired down a searing short ball and was dispatched with an impressive pull shot.
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The next delivery was once again short and Smith attempted to lift it over the slips cordon — with Archer delivering a spray, allegedly asking the Australian skipper why he starts playing shots when there’s no rush on the scoreboard.
Smith then returned serve and was captured on the stump microphone saying: “You bowl fast when there’s nothing going on champion”.
No surprises where the next ball would be aimed at.
Archer honed in on Smith’s helmet, with a wayward pull shot catching the top edge of his bat, sizzling away for four.
Archer and Smith then came face-to-face, walking down the wicket together as English captain Ben Stokes encouraged his spearhead quick to continue his barrage.
“Emotion enters the series, and that’s England’s best chance, make it emotional,” Fox Cricket’s Kerry O’Keeffe said.
“If this is short it’s going.”
O’Keeffe was right, and Smith this time was up to the task, pulling Archer’s searing bouncer for six — with the speed gun clocking that ball at 150.5 kmph.
“Steven Smith, he takes him on, what an answer,” Mark Howard said.
Smith slapped the next delivery for a single down to third man, ending what was an entertaining five balls and setting up a tantalising contest for the third Test.
While Archer ramped up his speed in the fourth innings, questions emerged regarding why he wasn’t able to match it in the first Test or in the first innings.
“Where were you when they needed you?” Mark Waugh said, while O’Keeffe focused on Smith’s use of the word ‘champion’.
“That’s the first grader to a sixth-grader, ease up champion,” he said.
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Post-match former English skipper Michael Vaughan echoed Waugh’s sentiment and urged him to deliver in the first innings in the upcoming Adelaide Test.
“Great theatre but I will be honest, I want to see Jofra bowling like this in the first innings in Adelaide,” he said.
“I want to see Jofra run in and bowl 150 kmph, he’s got it in him, we have seen that. England are struggling to get 20 wickets.
“He’s the one bowler I think could crack open an opportunity for England, but he has to run in and bowl like that in the first innings.
“Not when you’re defending 65 and the lights are on and you’re only going to bowl four or five overs, I want to see that on the first morning.”
Smith also played down the encounter after the victory, saying: “That stays on the field, it was good banter. He’s a good competitor, he comes hard at you so it was good fun.”
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