Twitter Reactions: Steve Smith’s double hundred comes in the way of England’s Ashes dreams
Steve Smith was just unbelievable on the day.
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:
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