England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith smashed an 80-ball hundred in the second Test against India at Edgbaston today (July 4), setting a counter-attacking world first for the morning session of a Test.
Smith came in with England in deep trouble at 84-5, still over 500 runs behind India's first innings total. Having already lost their Nos.1-3 the day before, they lost a further two big wickets in the second over of day three. Joe Root and Ben Stokes fell in consecutive balls during Mohammed Siraj's first over of the day, Root tickling one down the leg side before the England captain edged behind first ball.
Those two wickets meant Smith came in to face a hat-trick delivery, seeing off the challenge comprehensively with a drive through mid-off down to the boundary for four. From there, Smith formed a brutal partnership with Harry Brook, who had watched the carnage of the early wickets from the other end. At the fall of Root and Stokes, England's innings run-rate was 3.95 – brisk but not quite up to the level of England's Bazballers' lofty pace. As Smith and Brook went on the offensive, that run-rate quickly climbed.
Jamie Smith slams 80-ball ton before lunch on day three of Edgbaston Test
Smith in particular went on the offensive. He took Prasidh Krishna's sixth over of the innings for 23 runs, slapping a four through square leg of his second ball before launching a six off his next. Three more fours followed in the over to take Smith within a run of his half-century, which he reached in the following over off 43 balls.
His next 50 runs were even quicker, coming off 37 balls to bring up a memorable hundred just before the lunch interval. He briefly threatened Gilbert Jessop's 76-ball record for England's fastest-ever Test century but instead, reached the milestone off 80 balls.
However, in bringing up his hundred before going off for lunch, Smith did set a different record. His innings was the fastest century made before lunch in a Test match where two wickets had fallen in the morning before the batter came to the crease.
Only five players have reached centuries before lunch on occasions where one wicket had fallen previously in the session – Charles Macartney, Don Bradman, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara and AB de Villiers – putting Smith in a field of his own.
Full list: Batters who have come in and scored centuries in the morning session of a Test match
| Player | Runs scored | Scoreline at start of innings | Wickets fallen previously in the session | Team | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| Jamie Smith | 102* | 84-5 | 2 | England | India | Edgbaston | 2025 |
| Charles Macartney | 112* | 0-1 | 1 | Australia | England | Headingley | 1926 |
| Don Bradman | 105* | 2-1 | 1 | Australia | England | Headingley | 1930 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq | 103* | 2-25 | 1 | Pakistan | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2002 |
| Brian Lara | 100* | 162-1 | 1 | West Indies | Pakistan | Multan | 2006 |
| AB de Villiers | 119* | 396-3 | 1 | South Africa | India | Centurion | 2010 |
| Victor Trumper | 103* | 0-0 | 0 | Australia | England | Old Trafford | 1902 |
| Majid Khan | 108* | 0-0 | 0 | Pakistan | New Zealand | Karachi | 1976 |
| David Warner | 100* | 0-0 | 0 | Australia | Pakistan | Sydney | 2017 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 104* | 0-0 | 0 | India | Afghanistan | Bengaluru | 2018 |
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