ADELAIDE: England snared the prized wicket of their nemesis Steve Smith as Australia toiled under the lights in a feisty opening day of the first-ever day-night Ashes Test in Adelaide on Saturday.
It was debutant Craig Overton who claimed the huge scalp of the world’s top-rated Test batsman for 40 and his first Test wicket in the 63rd over of a grimly-fought contest between bat and ball.
But the Australians, leading the series after a 10-wicket first Test win in Brisbane, only lost four wickets after being surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Joe Root.
At the close, the home side were 209 for four with Peter Handscomb unbeaten on 36 and Shaun Marsh on 20 before an Adelaide Oval record 55,317 crowd.
“It was a pretty nice one, obviously,” Overton said of his dismissal of Smith.
“He’s one of the best players in the world to get that one to start with and hopefully I can carry on with that tomorrow.”
Overton angled one in between bat and pad to scatter Smith’s stumps to the unbridled delight of the England team after the Australian skipper’s match-turning unbeaten 141 in Brisbane.
The Somerset seamer earned kudos as the first bowler to bowl Smith in a Test match in Australia since New Zealand’s Trent Boult in November 2015.
