Smith 85 headlines dominant Day 1 for Australia

Australia enjoyed the perfect start to the second Test of the 2023 Ashes at Lord’s, scoring 339 for the loss of just five wickets in challenging conditions on day 1. David Warner laid the platform for the visitors with a gutsy half-century against the new ball before Steve Smith (85* off 149) and Travis Head (77 off 73) took the game away from the hosts in the final session to put Pat Cummins’ side on top.

Having won the toss and chosen to bowl first under overcast London skies, England endured a disappointing day in the field as they failed to exploit the helpful conditions. While the green Lord’s pitch didn’t offer as much movement as advertised before the Test, the hosts failed to challenge the Australian openers consistently, who comfortably survived the early threat against the new ball.

David Warner got into his groove after a pair of brief stoppages in the opening session caused by passing showers and an on-field ‘Just Stop Oil’ protest, which required some first-hand intervention from Jonny Bairstow. The left-hander was given a life on 20 by Ollie Pope in the slips and made the most of his reprieve, showing some aggression after the dropped catch.

The veteran scored freely on both sides of the wicket and got to his first Test half-century in England since 2015 with a six over deep square leg off Josh Tongue. The Worcestershire seamer, though, did have some success on his second England cap, breaking the opening stand with the wicket of Usman Khawaja on the eve of Lunch before delivering a superb in-dipper to castle David Warner in the afternoon.

However, England couldn’t capitalise on Tongue’s breakthroughs as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith controlled the proceedings in the second session. Smith got off to an aggressive start, scoring 24 off his first 14 deliveries, and both batters profited on anything overpitched from the English seamers. The pair added 102 before Ollie Robinson broke the stand with a beauty that found Labuschagne’s outside edge on 47. However, Travis Head’s arrival added to England’s misery, with the left-hander launching an immediate counter-attack.

The number five carted the wayward English bowling attack to all parts of the ground, racing away to a 48-ball fifty. Smith was happy to play second fiddle to Head’s heroics, with the duo putting on a century stand in just 104 deliveries to put Australia in the driver’s seat in the final session of the day. The left-hander was untroubled by England’s short-ball ploy and looked well on course for a three-figure score before Joe Root provided the unlikely breakthrough, ripping one past Head to have him stumped on 77.

The off-spinner also removed Cameron Green for a duck three balls later, with the all-rounder uncharacteristically top-edging Root to mid-off, but Smith guided Australia through till stumps without further damage, putting them in an excellent position at 339 for 5.