According to CricViz’s WinViz measure, Australia’s chances had slumped from 31 to 11 per cent while the
two were together, which is where it stayed when David Warner and Cameron Bancroft both fell with
Australia still deep in the red. Then Smith walked out. With Usman Khawaja, they made a decision to up
the tempo and make life difficult for Joe Root who doesn’t have Jimmy Anderson to call upon.
Moeen got Bancroft early but he also took plenty of tap, going for 47 from nine overs, never allowed to
settle. Together, they put on the fastest partnership of the game: 48 in 55 deliveries. Travis Head picked up
where Khawaja left off, his unbeaten union with Smith 49 when bad light and rain denied the final 25
minutes.
Given that not long before the close Ben Stokes hit Smith in the head with a 90mph bumper, it was a well-
timed early bath. As Bairstow was heard saying over and again through the stump mics, England believe
they can “have them five down in a hurry.” But when he is saying that, he is only referencing Head and next
man in, Matthew Wade.
None of this is a secret – the home side knows, Paine’s dressing room knows, anyone who has watched
these sides play over the last four years knows. Everything that happens from here is determined by the
progress or otherwise of one man: Smith. That might not quite be the stuff of 2005 but it does make for a
compelling fourth morning.