NEW DELHI: Australian stand-in captain Steve Smith was left awestruck by the way England wrapped up the fourth Ashes Test inside two days at the MCG on Saturday and praised the visitors' aggressive approach in chasing down a modest 175-run target.
England snapped an 18-match winless run in Australia by defeating the hosts by four wickets in the Boxing Day Test. After suffering defeats in the first three Tests, Australia had already secured the Ashes within just 11 days of play across Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
"I thought England came out today and played some really good cricket. They got the ball in the right areas and dismissed us," Smith told reporters.
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"And then I thought the way they started with the bat was good. Obviously, they were really aggressive, and tried to break the back of a reasonably small chase on a tricky wicket.
"They got off to a bit of a flier. And a couple of their heavy blows sort of softened our seam quite a bit.
"Probably didn't offer as much as it had for the rest of the game after that. So credit to them."
England bowled Australia out for 152 and 132 in their two innings. Chasing a modest target of 175 on Day 2, the visitors reached the total in 32.2 overs, winning by four wickets.
Smith credited England's aggressive batting approach for their turnaround, saying it allowed them to recover after three consecutive losses in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship series.
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"The guy with the most success on that wicket was probably Harry Brook. Running down the wicket, playing some rogue shots, and trying to get the bowlers off their lengths," he said.
Smith stressed that Australia didn't get the chance to find the balance in the game, and the aggressive approach England used ultimately gave them the advantage.
"Whether we could have been a bit more proactive and played a few more of those (attacking shots), that's something we'll talk about but in the end, it's also a tricky one to do that," Smith said.
"You want to try and dig in for your team, you want to extend a couple of those partnerships and maybe the ball would have got a bit softer and played a little easier. We never really got to that point in the game," he added.
