Smith's 95 puts England on top in third Test

Smith’s aggressive knock, off 109 balls, included 12 fours and one six as England resolutely compiled 376 in response to West Indies’ first-innings total of 282.

West Indies lost skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzie cheaply in the final hour of the day as they reached stumps on 33-2 – 61 runs behind England.

The tourists had earlier made an electric start in the morning session after they quickly captured the wickets of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook to leave England reeling at 54-5.

Calm heads were needed and England’s two most experienced batters – Joe Root and skipper Ben Stokes (54) – duly delivered a composed 115-run stand for the sixth wicket to spearhead the fightback.

Wicketkeeper Smith upped the ante as he and Chris Woakes (62) firmly wrestled the initiative in England’s favour with some fluent strokeplay, cheered on by a raucous crowd.

England's day would have been even better had Stokes not dropped a simple catch to dismiss West Indies opener Mikyle Louis, who will resume on day three with Alick Athanaze.

At the start of the series England ruthlessly dispensed with Jonny Bairstow and gave Smith wicketkeeping duties ahead of Ben Foakes, his Surrey team-mate.

This was precisely the kind of performance with the bat that Brendon McCullum and Stokes would have had in mind when they made that call.

Smith had shown his promise on the Test stage with 70 on his debut in the first match at Lord’s.

On that occasion he showed intelligent match awareness to move through the gears and advance England from a good position to an excellent one in a pressure-free situation.

Given the scoreboard when he arrived here at Edgbaston – 169-6 and a deficit of 113 runs – this constituted an innings of much greater substance, and significance.

Smith set the tone when he powerfully whipped a short one aimed at his ribcage from Alzarri Joseph over the roof of the Eric Hollies Stand off just the 11th ball he faced.

He brought up his second Test half-century off 60 balls then took Joseph to the cleaners again, ruthlessly pummelling three wasteful deliveries on his legs in the same over for four.

It was going to take a piece of fine bowling, or a freak dismissal, to dislodge Smith as he eyed a maiden Test hundred.

Shamar Joseph flummoxed him with a bit of both as a short-pitched off-cutter bounced low and went through to hit the stumps with Smith already committed to pull a ball he expected to be chest height.

Up on the England balcony Stokes theatrically threw his head back in despair, almost disbelief, before he too joined the rest of a well-oiled crowd in applauding a fine knock.

There was a sense that this was the day Smith had produced a breakthrough innings.

He even had the gloss of a catch behind the stumps late in the day when McKenzie nicked a delivery from Gus Atkinson after Woakes had removed Brathwaite’s off stump for a duck.

-BBC