It is simple for England: Get Steve Smith out or lose the Ashes

The roar Joe Root let out when he reviewed correctly to dismiss Cameron Bancroft shortly after David Warner nicked off was guttural and instructive. The England captain had got the big call right and they had two in a hurry. After a horrid collapse before lunch, and an imposing start for Australia, England were suddenly back in the day with Craig Overton looking more dangerous by the delivery.

But the fate of the hours to come was always going to rest on how they went when the next guy walked out, Root’s opposite number, Steve Smith. “Buts” don’t come bigger in international cricket. When he gets it right, and so often he does, Australia almost always win. Only two of his 21 centuries have been reached in losing teams – and England can’t afford to lose here. It’s binary. Get Smith or get stuffed.

From the moment the home captain walked out he batted in a manner that suggests he gets this, too. He is fully aware of his role as the main character in every story these sides write. In the series opener, his job was a shock absorber; to exhaust the England bowlers. Here it was different. A higher-octane contest required a high-tempo innings to heap scoreboard pressure back on to Root. Especially after England left so many runs behind with the bat.

So he went to work. Two thumping off-drives came inside the first 10 deliveries he faced. The first time Overton gave him an opportunity he repeated the stroke. A fourth strike came before tea. To the extent that Smith was in control was highlighted by the last ball of that session when Overton got it to spit before smashing into Smith’s thumb, head and rolling towards his stumps. Yet he had the presence of mind to get his stinging hand back on to the bat to parry away the ball from the woodwork. For Root, it must have been as ominous as any of the drives. Nothing was breaking Smith’s concentration.

In the space of 24 balls, the complexion of the game had changed. Smith was on one – and everyone knew it. Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, formerly of this parish, put it best shortly after the interval. “Can anyone look nailed on for a hundred with 63 runs still to go?” he tweeted.

READ MORE: Sensational Smith leads Australia fightback

READ MORE: Paine denies Australia involvement after Ashes match-fixing accusations

In the space of a spell, Smith made Stuart Broad look a spent force. After disdainfully pulling for six, he middled him past point off the balls of his feet like it wasn’t one of the hardest shots in the game. Off the pads he clipped with immaculate timing to the rope once more. Then for his final trick he adjusted midstroke to a bouncer that didn’t get up, bisecting two fielders. He flashed a knowing grin in response. Broad didn’t.

Neither did Root. He knows the deal. Smith probably reminds him of himself on the days when he is playing by different rules to the rest. When Usman Khawaja was on 32, he didn’t get a hand to a chance at second slip. Related to what the Australian numero uno was up to? Surely. Smith responded by bringing up his half-century – in 58 balls if you don’t mind – by launching into another cover drive.

At the final drinks break, an interview with Smith appeared on the big screen where he described his century in the corresponding fixture in 2013. It was the knock that changed it all, the moment where he proved to himself that he could really do it. Three boundaries in a row followed the beverage. Then a deft late cut. This was history repeating itself on the Waca Ground.

With stumps looming, he put it away. The ton can wait for day three. But one last run took Australia to an even 200 behind, his stay successfully redefining the terms of reference for the contest. “He’s the sort of guy when he gets into a rhythm you don’t want to break it up,” Khawaja said at stumps. “More impressive is how Smudge bats in terms of the margin for error when you bowl to him is so little, as the English found out today.”

They sure did. The lesson for Root through his side’s final intervention of the day, Woakes trapping Khawaja a couple of overs after being brought into the attack, was that they can make the game move fast, too. Smith showed him how it’s done. Now it is his move. They can change the course of the match.