Smith falls to Shardul, bowled! A surprising breakthrough! Shardul delivers a gentle ball outside off, angling away. In normal circumstances, Smith would have left it alone, but surprisingly, he decides to play at it.
Unfortunately for him, he misjudges the line and gets a thick inside edge that crashes into his stumps. Smith raises his head in despair as he departs, but the Oval crowd acknowledges his effort with a spirited applause. India is having a productive morning, claiming their third wicket of the session.
Travis Head and Steve Smith subjected Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami to a barrage of powerful shots early in the day. However, the Indian bowlers found success with their strategy of using short balls, as Siraj managed to dismiss Head for a score of 163 off 174 deliveries.
This brought an end to the formidable partnership between Head and Smith, which had amassed 285 runs off 408 balls. Following Head’s dismissal, Cameron Green arrived at the crease and wasted no time, hitting a boundary off the very first ball he faced.
India found themselves on the defensive for a significant portion of the first day and the start of the second day, as Smith and Head ruthlessly attacked the bowlers. Head concluded the day with an impressive knock of 146 runs off just 156 deliveries, while Smith remained a mere five runs away from his century.
Both batsmen effortlessly surpassed their respective milestones on Day 2, with Smith looking particularly dominant. However, India continued their fightback, and eventually, Mohammed Shami managed to capture the wicket of Cameron Green, further bolstering their resurgence.
