Overton had got inside Smith's bat after Broad,the pick of England's bowlers,and Anderson had tried to get inside his head. Umpires Aleem Dar and Chris Gaffaney intervened more than once.
Whether the England approach distracted Smith was a point of contention. Khawaja,who was at the other end compiling 53,did not think it did,saying he had every right to bite back.
"It looked like it switched Steve Smith on a bit,"he said."The man averages 61,he can do whatever he wants. Not many players in the world would do that."
Overton saw it differently."It looked like they got under his skin but he still got 40 so he still played pretty well,"he said.
"Just the way he left the ball,almost exaggerating a little bit. He didn't do that in Brisbane. I don't know if he was doing that on purpose just to wind us up a bit."
Tension between the opposing sides mounted in the lead-up to the second Test amid claims by Anderson that Australia acted like bullies on the field and a counter-claim by Smith that the England seamer was one of the game's most prolific sledgers.
The visitors had been further agitated at a suspicion Smith was making fun of them in the aftermath of the first Test after seeing him laugh at Cameron Bancroft's detailing of the bizarre headbutt greeting the opener received from Jonny Bairstow in a Perth bar in late October.
Smith denied he was mocking England but received a less-than-friendly reception on Saturday night in any case. The umpires were prompted to step in after words were exchanged,a pumped-up Broad giving Smith a mouthful and thumping his chest in an apparent mocking of the Australian captain's emotional celebration upon reaching three figures at the Gabba.
With Root and Anderson also chiming in from the field,Smith hit back,following Broad up the pitch at the end of a particularly fiery over.
After the dinner break,Dar then walked over and stood between Smith and Anderson when Root posted the 35-year-old right in front of the Australian captain at the non-striker's end,triggering the delivery of more barbs.
The banter had been flowing from Smith towards Overton as well.
"He was saying I was slow,"Overton said."It was nice to sort of beat him for pace. That was good. He's one fo the best players in the world."
Smith was the man England most desperately wanted but after being outclassed in the psychological battle in Brisbane he was not the only one who had his ears chewed off.
Broad goaded David Warner (47) when he ran out his opening partner Bancroft for 10 and Handscomb had a slanging match with Anderson and Broad as the players walked off the ground at the close of play.
Root had earlier revived memories of Nasser Hussain at the Gabba 15 years ago with one of the great Ashes captaincy gambles before a crowd that reached more than 55,000,an Ashes record for Adelaide.
For the first time in a day-night Test and for the first time at the venue since 1992,a team that lost the toss found themselves batting first.
The reason was Root's conviction that in cool conditions and with cloudy skies overhead it was the"attacking option"to hand the pink Kookaburra to Anderson and Broad rather than have his openers pad up.
Australia weren't entirely shocked but are intent on making Root pay for his punt."I had a feeling they might bowl first,with it being overcast and day one and a pink ball,"Khawaja said."Tomorrow is a big day for us."
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A peek at the records only emphasised what a significant call it was. Root became the first England captain since Bob Willis in 1982-83 to send Australia in at Adelaide.
Only time will tell if it will go down as a masterstroke or a huge mistake.