It began in the worst possible way for England. By the second over of the day, they were 84 for five, trailing by hundreds of runs and seemingly out of the contest. Joe Root had just been dismissed off the ninth ball of the morning, followed immediately by Ben Stokes, who fell to a vicious delivery that brushed his glove on the way to the keeper. Mohammad Siraj was on a hat-trick, and Jamie Smith, just 24 and playing his 19th Test innings, was walking to the crease with the match hanging by a thread.
The crowd was tense, the slips were poised, and the bowler was brimming with confidence. The delivery was full, shaping in towards middle stump. Smith met it with composure and authority, driving it straight down the ground for four. It was a stroke that signaled he wasn’t going to play like a man under siege.
Smith, like his teammate Harry Brook, has known only one way to play in Test cricket the aggressive, unshackled style instilled by Brendon McCullum. While older teammates had to relearn their approach to fit this philosophy, Smith was raised on it. What followed was a whirlwind display of fearless batting that turned the match on its head.
Smith’s counterattack was sparked by a barrage of short-pitched bowling from Prasidh Krishna. After pulling one delivery for four, Smith watched as the fielders moved to crowd the leg-side boundary. Krishna continued with the short-ball tactic, and Smith kept dispatching them. A six, then two more boundaries followed. The bowler pitched one up, and Smith drove it past him for another four. The over went for 23 runs, and Smith went on to plunder 35 from just 13 deliveries bowled by Krishna.
Within 20 minutes, the match had shifted. Smith overtook Brook’s score and raced to a half-century before charging toward a century with eye-watering speed. He reached the milestone from just 80 balls, narrowly missing out on Gilbert Jessop’s record for the fastest century by an Englishman.
This wasn’t just about runs. It was a shift in momentum, a reminder of what this England side under McCullum and Stokes represents. Where past teams may have dug in for damage control, this one struck back with aggression. Smith’s innings was defiant, thrilling, and transformative. As the day closed, England still trailed by 180, but they had all ten wickets in hand and belief firmly restored.
