Smith celebrates after scoring his maiden double century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
England found themselves in heaps of trouble after Steven Smith became the first Australian batsman to score a double century at Lord’s since Bill Brown accomplished the feat way back in 1938.
Starting the day on 337/1, Smith and Chris Rogers converted their 259-run partnership into a 284-run stand before Rogers was clean bowled by Stuart Broad for a career-best 173, which came off 300 balls and included 28 boundaries.
Even though Smith and Rogers were unable to add that many runs to their partnership, they still broke the record for the highest partnership by an Australian pair at Lord’s. The previous holders of the record were Michael Slater and Mark Taylor, who amassed a 260-run stand for the first wicket in 1993.
Despite losing captain Michael Clarke, Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh soon after, Smith continued to frustrate England and went on to bring up his maiden double century during a 91-run partnership with debutant Peter Nevill.
Smith was eventually trapped lbw by Joe Root for a career-best 215, which came off 346 deliveries and included 25 boundaries and a six.
Smith reviewed the decision, but replays showed that the ball was just pitching in line and going on to hit the stumps. This led to the third umpire upholding the original decision.
Nevill went on to score 45, while Mitchell Johnson made 15 before Clarke decided to declare with his side on 566/8.
Broad was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Root snapped up two and Moeen Ali and Mark Wood chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Trailing by 566 runs, England got off to literally the worst possible start as opener Adam Lyth was caught behind off the bowling of Starc on the second ball of the innings.
To make things worse, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Root followed soon after, leaving England in dire straits.
Ben Stokes and England captain Alastair Cook stemmed the bleeding with an unbeaten 55-run partnership before stumps was called.
Stokes finished on 38 off 50 balls, which included five boundaries and a six, while Cook remained undefeated on 21 off 85 deliveries, which included three boundaries.
Johnson was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood claimed one wicket each.
England ended day two on 85/4 and will continue batting tomorrow at 11:00 local time or 10:00 GMT.