Wayward spells and five drops swing Gabba Test Australia's way

The story of the second day at the Gabba was written less by brilliance than by error. Marnus Labuschagne and Will Jacks each produced a highlight-reel catch, but it was England's five dropped chances that defined the proceedings. Only once has a team spilled more in a single day's play in Australia. And as expected, the hosts made full use of the reprieves, piling on 378 runs, the highest total ever in a single day of a D/N Test.
The day began with Brendan Doggett wrapping up England's innings on 334, the hosts adding just nine to the overnight tally before Jofra Archer miscued a pull behind square and Marnus Labuschagne plucked it out while air-borne. England, though, would have returned to the dressing room satisfied, buoyed by a record tenth-wicket stand that carried them well past the 260 they would have gladly accepted a day earlier, as Zak Crawley noted.
Travis Head opened in the absence of Usman Khawaja and was kept quiet early, edging an unplayable delivery from Jofra Archer, only for Jamie Smith to spill it behind the stumps. Whether that moment drained the England bowlers is hard to say, but what followed was startling. Encouraged by the Gabba bounce, they kept alternating between too short and too full, and Jake Weatherald kept cashing in en route to a maiden Test fifty. The pair added 77 in just 13 overs, setting the tone for the partnerships that followed in conditions that had indeed flattened out for batting.
Brydon Carse removed Head with a catch at mid-on, but Marnus Labuschagne, who crossed 1,000 runs in day-night Tests, settled quickly against the pink ball, adding 69 off 76 for the second wicket. Australia raced to 125/1 by the 20-over mark, the second-highest score by a team at that stage in a first innings of a Test in Australia. And for the second time in two innings, England's bowlers were left searching for answers.
Archer sent down 20 overs, his second-heaviest workload in a day, with only Weatherald's wicket achieved with a searing yorker, to show for his efforts. He troubled Steve Smith, striking him on the thumb and elbow, but couldn't find another breakthrough. He should have had Michael Neser, but Carse put down the chance at cover.
Labuschagne and Smith, both going on to get their half-centuries, added another 50 for the third wicket before Ben Stokes had Labuschagne fishing outside off in the twilight. That ill-timed dismissal triggered a burst of aggression: Cameron Green lost his stumps trying to make room against Carse while Smith fell to a largely controlled pull that Will Jacks intercepted mid-air.
Josh Inglis and Alex Carey steadied the innings until Stokes beat Inglis's outside edge and bowled him, but England's catching under lights let their captain down. Ben Duckett shelled both Carey and Inglis at gully, while Carey received another reprieve at slip from Joe Root. Labuschagne admitted in a sideline interview that catching under lights can be "tricky," but even that hardly explains England putting down four chances in the session.
By stumps, Australia had raced along at over five runs per over and more than 60 percent of their runs had come behind the wicket, a clear reflection of the lengths and lines England persisted with and how, once again, they allowed the advantage they had built to slip away. Australia finished the day with a 44-run lead with four wickets in hand and a well-set Carey at the crease, and even though they will bat last, they will feel they have already compensated for any cracks in the Gabba pitch that might play a role later in the Test.