Carse, normally so reliable, had been as guilty as anyone of spreading the ball around Brisbane: he conceded 113 runs in his 17 overs.
And it was indicative of England’s situation that the Durham man was asked to bowl a group of bouncers in the evening session, when normally the floodlights offered the kind of movement to encourage orthodox bowling.
With Green stepping back to flay an expected short ball, he was deceived by a Carse Yorker that splashed the stumps. From the next ball, Carey gloved a poisonous lifter, only for Ben Duckett to make the vital catch advancing from the gully.
Still, in the very end, Carse got the crucial wicket of Smith thanks to Jacks’ magical moment. Smith attempted a pull around the corner only for Jacks, back square leg, to lunge to his right and latch onto his right hand.
Inglis and Carey counter-attacked, the boundaries continued to flow and Duckett had another chance, this time Inglis in Gully off Stokes’ bowling. Three balls later, Stokes removed Inglis’ middle stump.
There was still time for England to create two more chances, and for Carey and Neser to add 49 off just 55 balls.
Neser, at six, drilled Jofra Archer to cover, where Carse failed to hold on. Carey was on 25 when he clipped Gus Atkinson between Smith and Joe Root, first slip. Root dived to his right, but it was the static Smith who should have made the effort.
