Third Test, Day 2: West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 62 | Atkinson 4-67) and 33-2 (Woakes 1-8) trail England 376 (Smith 95, Root 87 | Joseph 4-122) by 61 runs with eight wickets remaining

The moment this third and final Test moved inexorably in England’s favour came when Jamie Smith launched Alzarri Joseph onto the roof of the Hollies stand and out of Edgbaston.

It was early in the afternoon session and not long after the West Indies had claimed the key wicket of England captain Ben Stokes.

At this stage they were still well on top, with the hosts six wickets down and trailing on first innings by more than 100.

But Smith’s counter-attacking verve was just what was required at the time. His treatment of Joseph was not only an eye-popping example of the rookie wicketkeeper-batter’s power but a statement of intent. England may be in the “refinement” stage of Bazball as Stokes had put it on the eve of this Test.

But they were still capable of moments such as this when the intent and attacking philosophy of this team’s approach came to the fore under extreme pressure.

This is just Smith’s third Test. Even after his brutal blow that sent the ball in the direction of the nearby River Rea, the 24-year-old was only on 15 and England still trailed by 91.

But the message had been sent and the Windies read it loud and clear.

By the time Smith was done, bowled on 95 by Shamar Joseph in the evening session, England were leading by 55 and firmly on course for a victory that will give them a 3-0 series whitewash.

Given they were 54 for five inside the first 20 minutes of this second day, to end up with a total of 376 and an eventual first-innings lead of 94 was some effort.

By stumps, with the West Indies on 33 for two and still trailing by 61, the turnaround was almost complete. If this match goes beyond a third day, it will have been some effort from the tourists. But England have the bit between their teeth and are primed to finish this first Test series of the summer in style.

England’s early morning struggles saw them fall to their lowest total in the Bazball era after the loss of the fifth wicket.

And as good as Smith was in the second half of the day, it was an old master in Joe Root who laid the foundations for the recovery after Ollie Pope and Harry Brook both fell in quick succession.

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Root would have gone on three had the Windies reviewed an lbw appeal from Jayden Seales in the second over of the day.

That they didn’t became a cause for regret as the Yorkshireman capitalised to post his 95^th 50-plus score during an innings that saw him become only the seventh man – and second Englishman after Sir Alastair Cook – to pass 12,000 Test runs.

Whenever Root retires, and at 33 there’s hope he has a few years left in him yet, he will be simply irreplaceable.

But for now just cherish a rare talent who looks immovable when he is in this type of form.

Root’s sixth-wicket partnership of 115 with Stokes dragged his team back into contention.

England’s captain had looked good in reaching 54. When he departed after being suckered by an Alzarri Joseph short ball, it brought Smith out to the middle alongside Root.

The seventh-wicket pair brought up a brisk fifty partnership in 61 balls. Yet Root was 13 short of a 33^rd Test century when he was deceived by the guile of spinner Gudakesh Motie shortly afterwards. It was a rare lapse.

This saw Smith take charge of an eighth-wicket partnership with Chris Woakes that would eventually be worth 105. For a player so young, this was impressive stuff and the clearest signal yet bringing him in as keeper for Ben Foakes at the start of the summer was the right call.

Even though he missed out on a first Test century, this innings of 95 in 109 balls bettered the 70 he made on debut at Lord’s earlier this month. The prospect of Smith getting better in the months and years ahead is tantalising.

Woakes, too, had a moment to savour, scoring his first Test half-century in three years and a first at his home ground of Edgbaston.

When he eventually departed for 62, he received a standing ovation from an appreciative Birmingham crowd.

By the time he had the ball in his hand for the first over of the West Indies’ second innings, the roof almost came off Edgbaston when he bowled Kraigg Brathwaite before the tourists had managed to get a run on the board.

Stokes shelled a catch to get rid of Mikyle Louis – also off Woakes. But Atkinson, whose two sixes in successive balls off Alzarri Joseph gave a final flourish to England’s first innings, then picked up the scalp of Kirk McKenzie to reduce the tourists to 22 for two.

Even though Wood then missed out on the scalp of Louis, who survived an lbw review on the tightest of umpire’s calls, it feels like it is a case of when not if England wrap up victory on day three.

Moments of the day

Missed opportunity

The West Indies could have dismissed Joe Root for three in the second over of the day when he was struck on the pads by Jayden Seales. But there was no review after wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva signalled the ball was going down the legside.

It proved costly, with Hawk-Eye showing the ball cannoning into leg stump. Luckily for the Windies they picked up the wickets of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook shortly afterwards to reduce England to 54 for five. But things could have been even better for them.

Ben pulls rank

Root and Ben Stokes rebuilt England’s innings with a 115-run stand for the sixth wicket. It was ended shortly after lunch when Stokes, who’d just passed fifty, fell into a short-ball trap, pulling Alzarri Joseph straight to square leg to hand the Antiguan his 100^th Test wicket.

Joe falls short

Following that early reprieve, nothing looked more certain than Root going on to score his 33^rd Test hundred – level with Sir Alastair Cook’s England record.

He was in superlative form during an innings that go past 12,000 Test runs and leapfrog Windies great Brian Lara into seventh in the all-time list of Test runscorers.

But just 13 away from three figures, spinner Gudakesh Motie trapped Root lbw with his arm ball that skids on at pace. Edgbaston let out a collective groan at the fall of England’s seventh wicket.

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Smith supreme

There are about 25 shots we could single out to demonstrate why this was such a good innings from Jamie Smith. The best? The brutal clubbing of Alzarri Joseph onto the roof of the Hollies Stand and out of Edgbaston as he moved onto 15.

But the cold, hard reality of international sport reared its head when the 24-year-old was bowled by Shamar Joseph on 95 with a delivery that kept low and bowled him as a first Test hundred slipped through his fingers.

Warrior Woakes

When the tourists came out to start their second innings with 55 minutes of the day left, it fell to Woakes to draw first blood. Fresh from his 62 with the bat, the Brummie hero bowled Kraigg Brathwaite with the final ball of the first over that seamed away a touch to get Edgbaston rocking.

Stat of the day

Joe Root has become just the seventh man in history to score 12,00 Test runs. He joins Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Sir Alastair Cook and Kumar Sangakarra.

Quote of the day

“Obviously I want to see the West Indies do well. All I want to see is a lot more commitment, fight and consistency. It’s a mindset thing, but you’ve got to learn quickly. A lot of kids are learning on the job now.”

West Indies great Brian Lara on Sky Sports

Player of the day: Jamie Smith

Missed out on a maiden Test century by five runs but there will be plenty more chances for this supremely gifted batter in the weeks, months and years ahead. What a player.

Bazball-o-meter: 8

Say what you like about the regular loss of wickets but England still hit more than 100 runs per session in the morning and afternoon. Throw in Smith smashing the ball out of Edgbaston and those late West Indies wickets and it was a pretty Bazzy day.