Twitter Reactions: Steve Smith’s double hundred comes in the way of England’s Ashes dreams
Steve Smith was just unbelievable on the day.
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In the first innings of the fourth Test against England, Australia did well enough to stand a chance to keep the urn with them. The freaking genius called Steve Smith was the man yet again for the Kangaroos. His courage and resilience reflected in the way he played his innings and it was a delight to watch to go about his business. While he might have had his share of luck, the cliched ‘luck favours the brave’ justifies it.
His impeccable patience, unorthodox technique and the never relenting hunger for runs clearly frustrated the English bowlers. It was all a one-man show after Australia resumed batting from 170/3 on Day-2. Smith continued to dominate at one end for a majority of the innings. Even though Australia lost Travis Head and Matthew Wade for small scores, Tim Paine rose up to the occasion. The Australian captain had a tough time so far in Ashes 2019 but delivered this time around.
Steve Smith – The invincible one-man army for Australia
Tim Paine looked good and scored 58 runs before he got out. Just when Steve Smith was approaching his double hundred, Pat Cummins was caught at slips by Ben Stokes. However, Mitchell Starc ensured that he allowed the former skipper to reach his third Test double hundred. After Smith was dismissed for 211 by Joe Root, Mitchell Starc went berserk with the bat.
He shifted gears and quickly accumulated 54 runs from 58 balls. Nathan Lyon also played his part and scored 26 runs. Thus, Australia got to 497/8 in 126 overs before Tim Paine decided to call his men back. That meant that the England openers would be tested in the final phase of play.
That did happen as Tim Paine unleashed his pace troika at Rory Burns and Joe Denly. Both these batsmen were beaten on the outside edge and inside edge on several occasions. In the end, it was Pat Cummins who got Denly out for 4 runs after a brilliant catch by Matthew Wade at short-leg. Nightwatchman Craig Overton did well to ensure England didn’t lose any wickets further. In 10 overs, the hosts scored 23/1 and are still 474 runs behind Australia’s first innings total.
The talks on Twitter about this day of play were all about Steve Smith. Fans couldn’t believe that the 30-year-old has been so consistent ever since his comeback. Also, they enjoyed the knocks from Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc.
Here is how Twitterati reacted:
Said it before, Steve Smith is mental toughness #TheAshes2019
— Adam Tomlinson (@adamtomlinson20) September 5, 2019
Wonder if Jack Leach re-enacted his no ball to his teammates after stumps last night? #ashes
— peter ryan (@petryan) September 5, 2019
211 @stevesmith49 !!
What a player !!!!— Sandeep Lamichhane (@IamSandeep25) September 5, 2019
Michael Holding: The advantage of having the night watchman is that it pushes Roy down to 5 which will help
???????????? man is a savage
— Bilal ???????? (@billz_25) September 5, 2019
Nothing more annoying than Tim Paine & Matthew Wade carrying on like pork chops, close to the bat!
SHUT UP! #Ashes
— Kevin Pietersen???? (@KP24) September 5, 2019
A pleasure to watch .. Hate saying that about an Aussie but you can only admire a player with so much skill,discipline,concentration & ridiculous hand eye coordination !!! @stevesmith49 you are a Freak .. #Ashes #200
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 5, 2019
142, 144, 92 when concussed and now a double ton. Whatever has happened in the past and whoever he plays for, you can only stand and applaud Steve Smith. #Ashes #worldclass
— Mark Chapman (@markchapman) September 5, 2019
The bat cone will outlive us all…#Ashes pic.twitter.com/0rUb0Ots0k
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 5, 2019
Fun Fact: Steve Smith’s batting average in this Ashes is more than the number of runs Joe Root has scored in the series.#Ashes
— Manya (@CSKian716) September 5, 2019
Smith averaging more than 65 now. These #Ashes feats extraordinary. It’s taken 70 years but have we finally got someone to occupy the daylight between Bradman and The Rest?
— Adam Burnett (@AdamBurnett09) September 5, 2019
Easy to pan Denly here, but he’s batting up top here to save Jason Roy’s immediate Test career. V.harsh for a bloke who toughed out 50 at No.4 an innings ago. #Ashes
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) September 5, 2019
200 up for Smith, another brilliant innings. Well batted. #Ashes
— England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) September 5, 2019
Classic Dizzy… ???????? #Ashes https://t.co/wqC6JLyrFS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) September 5, 2019
Double Centuries in England :-
Don Bradman – 5
Steve Smith – 2
Javed Miandad – 1
Younis Khan – 1
Sachin Tendulkar – 0
Virat Kohli – 0#Ashes ????— ???????????? (@imtheguy007) September 5, 2019
Runs in 2019 #Ashes
575
J Bairstow + J Root + J Denly + J Butler + J Roy (31 innings)589
S Smith (4 innings)— Joshua Kay (@js_kay) September 6, 2019
Steve Smith (after getting to 192) now has the best eight innings stretch versus a single team in the history of Test cricket
Has gone past the 1069 runs that Bradman scored in 8 innings vs ENG between 1930 & 1932
— Swamp (@sirswampthing) September 5, 2019
After starting 212 days behind everyone else Steve Smith is now the highest run scorer in Tests in 2019
— Swamp (@sirswampthing) September 5, 2019
Consistency, the ultimate hallmark of a great player. Steve Smith taking this to the next level. ????????????????????????#SteveSmith #Ashes
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 6, 2019
A brilliant double century on return after injury by @stevesmith49.
Loved the way he has batted and blunted the English Pace attack.#ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/XKbWDEu7f0— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) September 6, 2019
Another day, another 200 @stevesmith49 on ???? a great example of some players being very superstitious- that’s why I feel the stem guards should be attached/fixed to the helmet ⛑ #compulsory https://t.co/FGmj8Gw39Q
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) September 6, 2019
@stevesmith49 all class! On another level
— Jason Behrendorff (@JDorff5) September 6, 2019
Great day Australia ???????????????????????? we are lucky to live in the era of Smith ???????? #superstar
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) September 5, 2019
Pretty bloody special that’s for sure
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) September 6, 2019
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