Steve Smith is left gobsmacked after being dismissed by Ben Stokes for LBW

Steve Smith was unable to fathom his early exit at Edgbaston after falling to Ben Stokes on Saturday morning.

Smith, arriving at the crease after David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne fell in consecutive balls, was hoping to rebuild Australia‘s innings with the tourists looking to eat into England’s first innings total of 393.

However, Smith was bamboozled by a Ben Stokes delivery, which crashed into his pad just before lunch on Day 2.

The umpire mulled over the delivery for a beat before raising his finger, and Smith’s jaw visibly dropped after learning of his fate.

He opted not to consult Usman Khawaja at the non-striker’s end and immediately reviewed the delivery, but was left disappointed as DRS ruled that the ball was indeed hitting the stumps had it not hit his pad first.

It was England’s morning as Stuart Broad wreaked havoc on the Australian top order, picking up the wicket of Warner for a 15th time in Test cricket.

He then forced Labuschagne into playing at an outswinging delivery – a ball he had designed with the world No 1 Test batter in mind – which was caught by Jonny Bairstow.  

More to follow.