SMASHED TO EREENS Aussie ace gives English bowlers another bashing
ENGLAND were left fighting for their first Ashes Test lives after being rolled into the dirt by Steve Smith.
Even though England openers Rory Burns and Jason Roy survived unscathed to the close, the task ahead in batting out the final day on a dry, wearing and turning pitch is monumental.
Once again there was simply no escape from the former Australia skipper’s grasp as Smith reached his 10th Ashes hundred. By reaching 142 he became the first player in history to register a pair of 140s in the same game. He had the support of fellow centurion Matthew Wade, who helped push the total to 487-7 declared to leave England a target of 398. The confidence that Stuart Broad will have after getting David Warner out cheaply twice in this game will be something he will feed off. And there will be doubts in the heavy head of Cameron Bancroft too that England will hope to take advantage of.
But after a day and a half bowling to Smith and then Wade as they collected ruthless and positive hundreds, it is the Aussies who have all the momentum. Wade usually plays as a wicketkeeper but with Tim Paine doing that job, he was picked for the Ashes as a batsman only.
And after falling for just one in the first innings the left-hander arrived against the part-time leg spin offerings of Joe Denly, and drilled his first ball through the covers for four.
He brought up his third Test ton from just 131 balls, proving just how positive he was, and by the time he was caught on the deep square leg boundary for 110, the lead was past 300.
If Wade’s confidence heading to Lord’s is sky high, it is unimaginable how Smith will be feeling coming off the back of twin hundreds in his first first-class game for more than 18 months.
For those lucky enough to have witnessed each of his Ashes hundreds, the term ‘batting genius’ is far from an exaggeration. He has now scored a staggering 1116 runs, including six hundreds, in his last 10 Ashes innings.
These are what the Aussies refer to as Bradman-esque numbers and only the late Sir Donald Bradman has scored more across a similar time frame than Smith.
Yes, England were without the injured Jimmy Anderson. And yes Moeen Ali was as out of sorts with the ball as he has been with the bat. But this was another special knock. England need to find someone to stand just as tall as Smith and Wade today. AUSTRALIA 2nd innings (cont) ENGLAND 2nd innings