TOP SPIN AT THE TEST: David Warner breaks fresh ground in England

England may have enjoyed a silver lining in the form of a heaven-sent over by Joe Root that saw the former captain claim the wickets of Travis Head and Cameron Green, but it was an otherwise gloomy day for Ben Stokes’ side. 

Australia looked supremely confident despite losing the toss, led by a sturdy presence in Steve Smith who ended the day 85 not out. 

In ideal bowling conditions, England failed to show off the lethal qualities synonymous with a fullthroated Bazball attack with a number of fumblings in the field allowing for consistent Australian gains.  

The home team will have a mountain to climb on Thursday morning to claw back hopes of levelling the contest. 

Here, Mail Sport’s Lawrence Booth shares the key statistics from the opening day of the second Test.  

Josh Tongue (right) made history on his debut in a bright spark for England in north London

David Warner’s 66 was his highest score in England since making 85 at The Oval in 2015. Between then and now, he had made 184 runs in 14 innings, including scores of 43 and one against India in the final of the World Test Championship, at an average of 13.

Steve Smith became the first of the 17 players to reach 9,000 Test runs in fewer than 100 games – this is his 99th. In terms of innings, only Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara got there in fewer – 172, to Smith’s 174. 

Steve Smith ended the day 85 not out after a sturdy opening day with the bat in the capital

Smith is the fourth Australian to reach the landmark, after Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

Josh Tongue became the first England player to bowl both Australia’s openers in the same innings since 1968, when John Snow dismissed John Inverarity and Bob Cowper at Headingley.

England bowled 12 no-balls on the first day, taking their tally for the series to 35. The 23 they bowled at Edgbaston was the most they have bowled in a Test since 2006. Australia, by contrast, overstepped only four times in the first Test.

Ollie Robinson  was one of a number of England bowlers that sent in no-balls on Wednesday

For all the talk of Bazball, the fastest-scoring batsman in this series so far is Travis Head, who now has 143 runs from 160 balls, at a strike-rate of 89. Next is Harry Brook, whose 78 runs at Edgbaston came at a rate of 87 per 100 balls.

Travis Head raced to claim a half century and formed an impressive pairing with Smith