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Jamie Smith came within touching distance of a first Test century at Edgbaston to help set England on course for a clean sweep in their series against the West Indies.
Smith hit a dashing 95 in just his fourth innings at the top level as the hosts flipped their fortunes from 54-5 to 376 all out on day two of the third Test.
Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson then plunged the tourists into further peril, striking with the new ball as the West Indies closed on 33-2 – trailing by 61.
Joe Root had started the fightback with a controlled 87, passing 12,000 Test runs and leapfrogging Caribbean great Brian Lara along the way, but it was Smith’s verve that carried England into an eventual lead of 94.
The 24-year-old, picked ahead of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes for this series in a changing-of-the-guard moment, bristled with attacking intent as he showed off the flair that inspired the selectors to make the switch.
There were 12 fours in his 109-ball stay as he worked through his range of shots but he will remember the innings best for an audacious six that cleared the Eric Hollies Stand. He had only been at the crease a few minutes when he launched a pull high over the rowdiest crowd in the country and, for the second time in three games, the stadium was not big enough to contain him.
On the balcony Ben Stokes’ eyes were on stalks as he watched the ball sail over the roof, the England skipper visibly excited by the power of his newest recruit.
Later, with almost 25,000 fans waiting excitedly to celebrate Smith’s hundred, Stokes threw his head back in dismay as Shamar Joseph’s cutter zipped through low and thumped the off stump. The expectation evaporated as Smith dragged himself reluctantly towards the pavilion but this was a moment to cheer an emerging talent, not bemoan his near miss.
Having taken three quick wickets on Friday evening, the West Indies added two more in the first four overs on Saturday – Ollie Pope diverting the ball into middle stump and Harry Brook nicking a flat-footed drive behind – to establish possibly their best position of the series.
With half of their wickets down, the hardness not yet off the ball and a deficit of 228, England were the ones under pressure. But the West Indies had already missed a trick, failing to call for DRS when Jayden Seales had a strong lbw shout against Root.
A referral would have ended Root’s stay there and then but instead he built a crucial partnership of 115 with Stokes. He barely put another foot wrong as he ticked off his latest selection of milestones – surpassing Lara’s career mark of 11,953 with his 14th run and becoming the seventh player in history to reach 12,000 with his 60th.
It was a typically measured effort, accumulating in a reliably risk-free fashion as he sapped the bowlers’ enthusiasm.
There was a more bruising quality to Stokes’ strokeplay but the skipper looked in good touch all the way up to the point he drilled a pull straight to midwicket on 54.
It was an even bigger surprise when Root was undone in sight of a 33rd hundred, beaten in defence by a sliver of turn from Gudakesh Motie to fall lbw.
At 231 for seven, England might still have given up a lead. But Smith had plans of his own. He announced himself with that remarkable swipe out of the ground, milked runs off Motie then showed his range with driven fours through cover and past midwicket.
His 50 hurried by in just 60 balls and both he and Woakes helped themselves as the tourists lost the plot after tea. An extended period of short-pitched bowling did nothing to alarm the pair, who merely took the chance to reel off a lengthy sequence of profitable pull shots.
Smith had so much time on his hands that he banged a couple past mid-on rather than turning them round the corner. He was attempting a similar outcome when he was finally dismissed, beaten as much by the low bounce as a subtle shift in pace.
By then England were 55 ahead, thanks to a stand of 106 between Smith and Woakes (62), and that had stretched to 94 by the conclusion.
English pressure continued to weigh heavily on the away team, Kraigg Brathwaite bowled for a first-over duck as he played the wrong line to Woakes and the hapless Kirk McKenzie banking a sixth successive failure when he edged Atkinson behind.
Mikyle Louis was dropped on nine by Stokes and sent sprawling by a Mark Wood yorker that crushed his boot, rendering it a game of survival by stumps.
