Steve Smith's dominant innings gives Australia edge over England at Lord's

Australia gained a significant advantage over England on the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's, thanks to a lacklustre display from the English team and outstanding unbeaten innings of 85 runs by Steve Smith. 

England won the toss under damp conditions, which seemed crucial, but their bowling lacked penetration, and their fielding was marred by costly errors.

Smith, who was determined to make up for his previous innings in the first Test, took full advantage of the opportunity and propelled the Australian team to a score of 339-5. David Warner contributed 66 runs before Smith formed crucial partnerships of 102 with Marnus Labuschagne and 118 with Travis Head. Head played a blistering knock of 77 runs from just 73 balls. 

Josh Tongue, making his Ashes debut, was the standout performer in the England attack, dismissing both Warner and Usman Khawaja with skilful deliveries that exploited the slope at Lord's. Towards the end of the day, Joe Root managed to remove Head and Cameron Green in the same over, but Smith's continued presence posed a significant threat to England.

Despite facing disruption attempts by protestors from Just Stop Oil, England's Ollie Pope suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to spend most of the last two sessions off the field. As the day concluded, England found themselves in need of a quick turnaround on day two to regain their footing in the Test match and the series.