Smith, enforcer Head make England work hard at Lord's

Smith was unbeaten on 85 after fifties by Warner and Head as Aussies took Day 1 advantage in 2nd Test

- Somshuvra Laha

Back-to-back century stands anchored by an unruffled and unbeaten Steve Smith, bookended by contrasting knocks from Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, powered Australia to a formidable position before Joe Root took two wickets in an over to offer a semblance of a fightback from England on the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Wednesday.

At stumps, Australia were 339/5, scoring at a shade over four runs an over on a day England’s seamers were supposed to rule the roost after Ben Stokes had chosen to bowl under an overcast sky. Usman Khawaja and David Warner almost saw through the morning session before Smith and Labuschagne put on 102 runs for the third wicket and set up Australia nicely. It was Head’s belligerent 73-ball 77 though that propelled Australia past the 300-run mark well before the second new ball was to be taken as Head and Smith took 104 balls to add the next hundred runs. By the time Head was stumped beaten by a wide Root off-break, Australia were scoring at 4.2 runs per over.

It will be argued that Australia scored 73, 117 and 149 runs in three sessions out of their own gumption but England too were horribly off the mark. They didn't have anyone of real pace on this surface, edges were put down in the slip cordon, dismissals were reversed and even Root, clearly, could have been well-served with a specialist spinner bowling in tandem with him. More damning was the number of no-balls — 12 — England conceded in trying to get some pace off the deck.