Smith and Webster's contrasting journeys against some excellent bowling display

ICC World Test Championship

Day 1: Advantage Australia.

AUS 1st innings 212 (Webster 72, Smith 66, Rabada 5-51)

RSA 1st innings 43-4 (Rickelton 16, Starc 2-10) trail by 169 runs

It's no secret how much Steve Smith loves run scoring at Lord's. He now has the most runs by an overseas batter at the home of cricket with a highest of 215. So when the South African captain elected to bowl first on a typical Lord's wicket, all eyes were on Smith again when he walked out at 16-2 after Kagiso Rabada burst through with two wickets in four balls. 

Smith was in his elements right from the start, tough to digest given he mentioned before the match he did not pick up the bat after his Champions Trophy dismissal of a full toss in the semi-final against India. The same however, cannot be said about Beau Webster who was very uncomfortable and honestly lucky to end up with 72 given the bowling team missed a chance to review a plumb lbw decision. Webster though showed remarkable improvement after managing to stick it out through the initial difficulties and progressed beautifully to remain firm and help Australia reach a meagre 212.

The morning session started perfectly for South Africa justifying the decision at the toss as Rabada and Jansen hit their stride to leave Australia rattling at 67-4. There were questionable shots notably from Travis Head and Alex Carey who tried to reverse sweep Maharaj and got bowled leaving his team high and dry when he was expected to show maturity. The most surprising dismissal of the day was that of Smith where he casually guided a cut shot to slip off Markram, who came in to bowl just to give Mulder a change of ends. That lucky break allowed South Africa to take full control after a fighting partnership between Webster and Smith was threatening to put Australia in front seat.

Apart from the dismissal delivery, Smith looked in total control of the proceedings. The highlight of his innings were the drives through point and cover often camping on the backfoot and throwing his hands on the ball with full power to ensure it fly go to slip. He was compact, looked untroubled throughout his stay and continued his glorious run at The Lord's cricket ground.

Smith's presence was significant for Webster too who showed nerves against Rabada and Jansen's inswinging deliveries. He was beaten neck and crop many times even getting lucky twice on LBW calls, one being Umpire's call on impact other being out but wasn't appealed and reviewed by South Africa. Webster's initial troubles were due to him waiting on his back foot which the African bowlers exploited and peppered him with fuller deliveries. He wasn't able to reach the fuller length properly because of his 6ft 7in height. With time, Webster started to gain confidence in his innings and played some exquisite shots which should be the template for other batters since the pitch will continue to have a lot for the bowlers.

Talking about the South African bowlers, Rabada was at his usual best with the Dukes ball, turning up on one of the biggest games of his career. He completed his 17th fifer and was ideally supported by his new ball partner Jansen who finished with 3-49. After settling into his rhythm, Rabada dismissed Khawaja and Green, both caught at slips in his third over. He continued to trouble Webster and came back to dismiss him and the tail in the last session with some beauties. Jansen had some luck with Head's dismissal but was brilliant in general. There was some debate regarding Ngidi's selection over Paterson and his poor display gave Australia an out but a couple of lucky wickets for the spinners and the two excellent pacers completed the rout of Australian batters for a below par score of 212.

Mitchell Starc's brilliant 7-over spell, a rarity, allowed Australia to wrestle back total control at the end of the day. Markram chopped on for a duck in the first over. Ryan Rickelton was looking good until he edged one to slip and Mulder, batting in his new role at No. 3 was cleaned through the gate by captain Cummins for a strange innings of 6 off 44. South Africa finished the day at 43-4 with skipper Bavuma and Bedingham not out for 3 and 8 respectively.

Yes this is a tough pitch to bat on but as Smith and Webster showed, with decent concentration and slight application there are runs to be scored. The pitch even has some turn which will interest Lyon and Maharaj to play more of a role as the game progresses. Day 2 is expected to be better for batting but trust the defending champions to come hard and make life tougher for the African batters. It might rain in the afternoon session and if it remains cloudy, it will Australian pacers a great chance to give a decent lead to their batters in the second innings.

References : ESPNCricinfo