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Steven Smith’s gritty ton and his partnerships with the Australian lower-order helped them turn a first innings strife into a position of strength against England on day three of the first Ashes Test match.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of Day 4 at the Gabba from 11am (AEDT).
An early loss of Shaun Marsh and a couple of quick wickets to the new ball looked to have pegged Australia back in the first session on day three. With Smith still at the crease, however, the Aussie hopes weren’t totally lost.
With Joe Root missing the trick immediately after the lunch break by not starting with either Stuart Broad or the supposedly injured James Anderson, Smith and Pat Cummins battled past the England score and put them in the green.
Not that Broad and Anderson had been able to get too many past Smith before either.
Tight defence, huge powers of concentration and the ability to adapt to a Gabba pitch that resembled a piece right out of Baroda than Brisbane put him in a position from where he could dominate the opposition. That, on a pitch where not too many others came close to establishing any kind of supremacy.
A deflated England bowling – and you would expect that by the time the Smith-Cummins partnership had lasted more than 30 overs – were unable to take advantage of what seemed to have turned into a quicker pitch than what had been on offer on the first two and a half days.
It was this very change that the trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins exploited to the hilt, pushing the England batsmen back with the suddenly spicy lift off the pitch.
Alastair Cook fell to a bouncer he failed to keep down because of that extra bounce. James Vince was squared up and ended up edging one to the slips, with the pace allowing the ball to carry to the fielder.
And it wasn’t just that. Joe Root was rattled by a dangerous bouncer that necessitated a change of helmets while Mark Stoneman was hit on his gloves a couple of times before they went to close of play at 2/33, just seven runs ahead.
England will know they need to bat most part of day four to put the pressure back on Australia but against a bowling attack breathing fire and on a surface that’s mirroring those emotions, it would be a steep ask.
Prediction
A fighting England will push Australia hard on the fourth day but the quickening pitch could play a part and the hosts will be set a target that shouldn’t be too tough to chase.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Day 4 of the 2017-18 Ashes series from 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
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