Australia tightened their grip on the Ashes and the World Test Championship (WTC) with another commanding win, sweeping past England by eight wickets in the second day-night Test at the Gabba.
With the latest win, Australia’s victory keeps them firmly at the top of the WTC table with a perfect points percentage, while England slide further down the rankings.
Latest ICC World Test Championship Points Table
| Rank | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points | Win% |
| 1 | Australia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 100.00 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 75.00 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 66.67 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 50.00 |
| 5 | India | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 52 | 48.15 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 33.33 |
| 7 | England | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 30.95 |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16.67 |
| 9 | West Indies | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5.56 |
Chasing just 65, Steve Smith finished the job in style by lifting Gus Atkinson for a towering six, sealing a 2–0 series lead.
Michael Neser was the standout performer, claiming a career-best 5 for 42 as England collapsed yet again. Although their performance wasn’t as disastrous as the two-day defeat in Perth, the visitors were outplayed in every discipline.
England’s batting offered only brief resistance through Joe Root, Zak Crawley, and later Ben Stokes and Will Jacks, but frequent loose strokes on the bouncy Gabba pitch proved costly. Their bowling was equally inconsistent, too short with the new pink ball, while Australia’s attack thrived despite missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Fielding errors further hurt England. Five dropped catches in the first innings contrasted sharply with Australia’s sharp work, including Josh Inglis’s superb run-out of Stokes that shifted momentum.
Stokes admitted his team struggled under pressure:
Very disappointing. We weren’t able to stand up when the game was on the line.
England’s hopes faded after allowing Australia’s tail to push the first-innings score to 511 for a commanding 177-run lead. Six wickets then fell under lights late on day three, leaving England fighting just to make Australia bat again.
Stokes and Jacks resisted bravely on the final morning, batting patiently to erase the deficit. But once Jacks edged to slip, taken brilliantly by Smith, the lower order folded quickly. Australia required only 65, and despite losing two wickets, Smith and Jake Weatherald cruised home.
