Steve Smith was the main aggressor for Australia in the first innings of the second Ashes Test at the Lord's with his brilliant 110 in just 184 balls and 15 fours to his name. However, his wicket eventually fell as England dominated the first session with three wickets in quick succession.
Smith's wicket was taken by Josh Tongue after the star batter drove the ball straight into the hands of Ben Duckett. It was a third wicket for Tongue, but the wicket of the former Australian skipper is something that will give the pacer extra delight as he had said before the match that one of his main objectives in his Ashes debut was to get the wicket of Smith.
"It would be great to get Steve Smith out again," he told ESPNCricInfo. "I was pretty happy the first time so, if I can do it on a second occasion, that would be good for the team as well and hopefully that will happen."
Tongue, who plays for Worcestershire in County Cricket, got the wicket of Steve Smith while the batter was playing for Sussex. Before taking the wicket of Smith, Tongue had 11 wickets in the County Championship. Against the batter, the medium pacer produced a fine delivery that would nip back and trap the Aussie in front of the stumps, dismissing him for 30.
His wicket was the third of the day for the Three Lions, who were heavily criticised for their lacklustre performance on Day 1. Australia were 339/5, courtesy of a 118-run partnership off 122 balls with Travis Head (77) but then Alex Carey (22) and Mitchell Starc (6) all fell early on the first session of Day 2.
The ton for Smith was a special one, as he became the fastest to 32 Test centuries. Smith achieved the feat in his 174th Test innings surpassing former Australia captain Ricky Ponting who did it in his 176th Test innings. He is followed by Sachin Tendulkar who took 179 innings to reach 32 Test centuries.
