Hazlewood strikes after Smith's magnificent century
Steven Smith produced a defiant unconquered century and Josh Hazlewood claimed two wickets to leave England reeling as Australia cracked open the first Ashes Test at the Gabba on Saturday.
The Australian skipper played one of his greatest Test knocks with an unbeaten 141, crafted over eight and a half hours, to give his team a 26-run lead on the third day, which had looked improbable when England's bowlers had struck thrice in the opening session.
Hazlewood then compounded England’s woes with the wickets of Alastair Cook (7) and James Vince (2) in his opening two overs before a nasty Mitchell Starc lifter thundered into Joe Root's helmet grille late in the day, further shaking up the visiting side. At stumps, England was hanging on at 33 for 2, leading by just seven runs. Root, on five, and Mark Stoneman, on 19, were at the crease.
Root, the England captain, did everything to remove the obdurate Smith with leg theory field placings, but the man who is No.1 in the ICC Test match batting rankings, countered all plans to give Australia the advantage at the Gabba, where the home team hasn't lost a Test since 1988.
“I think we're in a reasonable spot being around 30 in front -- we didn't look like we were going to get there for a while,” said Smith. “It just meant a lot. Ashes series are always huge. As a captain, I want to lead from the front as much as I can with my performance and the way I bat. All of it came out when I got to 100.”
Stuart Broad said England would get a chance on Sunday's fourth day. “The previous three days mean nothing if we don't get it right tomorrow. It's in our hands,” said the veteran paceman. “If someone goes and plays a Steve Smith-type knock (that) gets the bowlers into their third and fourth spells tomorrow we're in the driving seat.”
It was an uncharacteristically restrained knock by Smith, with his 21st Test century built on unwavering concentration and patience to defy all of England's efforts to dislodge him. When Australia's first innings finally ended, Smith was still there after 326 balls over 514 minutes with 14 fours.
Smith -- who averages 61.23 in 57 Tests but 72.46 as Test captain, second only to the great Don Bradman -- consummated his indomitable hundred with a cover drive for four off Broad to a huge roar from the home crowd. He almost single-handedly carried his team past England's total, though he needed the resolute lower-order support that Pat Cummins, the pacer, and Nathan Lyon, the offspinner, provided, as the last six wickets added 252 runs.
Smith was initially tied down by the meticulous England bowling and fielding after losing three batting partners in the morning session, before Cummins joined him at 209 for 7 in the 82nd over. Cummins played a pivotal supporting role for his skipper, overtaking his previous highest Test score of 33 with 42 in his first Test match at home, and helped put on a crucial 66-run stand.
Smith meanwhile showed the range of his mind and his method, escaping the shackles imposed by England to claim yet another century. Root's field strategy involved placing six fielders on the legside with three in the deep, and he had no-one in front of the bat on the offside, while his pacemen ripped in short-pitched deliveries to Smith for a time.
The Australians lost Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc before lunch.
Marsh reached his eighth Test fifty -- his first in an Ashes match -- before he was deceived by a slower ball from Broad and lobbed a catch to James Anderson at mid-off. Paine, back for his first Test in seven years, stayed for an hour before he was dismissed by a one-handed catch by Jonny Bairstow, the wicketkeeper, off Anderson for 13.
Starc hoicked Broad for a straight six but fell two balls later, spooning back a return catch to Broad as Smith saw batting partners come and go.
Yet it was Smith who was to have the last word.
