Smith is cut down to size on a brutal Test day at Lord’s
Steve Smith’s titanic tussle with Jofra Archer, and the 92mph bouncer that ended their battle in gruesome fashion, dominated the fourth day of the second Ashes Test.
England lost their top order cheaply in the evening session and will begin day five 104 runs ahead on 96 for four.
Smith was on 80 and progressing towards his third successive century when debutant Archer clattered him in the neck at express pace, brutally flooring the Australian.
Smith was led from the field, but returned just 40 minutes later after passing concussion tests, dismissed softly by Chris Woakes for 92 and looking understandably shaken.
The morning session did little to hint at the drama to come, with Australia adding 75 runs for the loss of a solitary wicket to reach 155 for five.
Stuart Broad predicted England would need to bowl their opponents out before lunch to have a realistic hope of winning and, although he had Matthew
Wade well caught by Burns at slip, they fell well short.
Archer was visibly revved up after the break, setting Tim Paine up with a bouncer in his first over of the afternoon then drawing a bat-pad catch.
Buoyed by the crowd he cranked it up past 90mph and kept his foot on the gas as he embarked in an unforgettable spell that required an adversary of Smith’s class to elevate it.
Archer was into his 24th over of the innings when he finally busted through Smith’s defences in a meaningful way, digging one in and thumping hard into the left forearm.
After treatment, he initially struggled to grip the bat but was not about to admit defeat.
When Archer started his next over, he gamely took on two more rapid, back-toback bouncers.
The first sailed off the top edge and over the wicketkeeper for four and the second trickled towards fine leg after another mis-hit.
Smith momentarily grabbed back the upper hand at the start of the 77th over, getting on top of the bounce as his rival banged another one in and hooking cleanly for four to reach 80.
The response arrived within a matter of seconds and was devastating.
It was another bouncer, zipping in at 92.4mph and too straight to easily avoid. Smith got into an awkward position, turning his head as the inevitable impact approached.
He tumbled face first to the ground, flicking off his helmet before rolling over and facing the sky.
The impact was brutal and Smith’s subsequent stillness as medics from both teams dashed out truly concerning.
Smith was persuaded, somewhat reluctantly, to pause his innings but was back after 54 balls and fell to an uncharacteristically tame lbw to Chris Woakes.
Australia wrapped up eight behind on 250, Jack Leach and Broad (four for 65) finishing things off.
Pat Cummins wasted no time turning the screw after the changeover, removing Jason Roy and Joe Root in successive balls in his third over.
The former managed just two and has now scored just 45 in five innings as an opener while Root nicked off for his first golden duck in 153 Test innings.
Peter Siddle kept the pressure by picking off two more of the top four, Joe Denly caught and bowled for a chancey 26 and Burns edging to Paine for 29.