Steve Smith holds the key with Aussies on back foot after day three at Edgbaston

Australia's hopes of survival in the Ashes opener are again in the hands of Steve Smith after the superstar survived a nasty blow to the helmet to reach stumps, with the tourists clinging on to a narrow lead.

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Steve Smith has returned from the brink of leaving the game and now is the man who stands between an opening Ashes loss for Australia after a rollocking day three left the visitors vulnerable to an opening  defeat at Edgbaston.

The former Aussie captain looms as the hero coach Justin langer has been looking for after he continued to confound England’s bowlers in a manner which could determine the first Test.  

Bad light halted play just after 6pm local time with the Aussies 34 runs in front and three men down, at 3-124,  after a late rally form the home team’s batsmen undid some early Nathan Lyon magic.

The heavens also opened and rain could yet play a part with the forecast for showers on days four and five.

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Smith could almost walk on water the form he's in.

Following up his first innings heroics Smith was 46 not out at stumps, with Travis Head unbeaten on 21, the pair left to rescue Australia after both openers again fell cheaply to put their team in a perilous position.

Steve Smith took a nasty blow on the head from A Ben Stokes delivery, but shook it off quickly.

Australia was effectively 2-0 when first David Warner (8) and then Cameron Bancroft (7) departed without making any meaningful input for the second time in the match as Australia faced a first innings deficit of 90 runs.

Warner endured a day of boos and songs that he couldn’t avoid when he was sent to field on the boundary.

The boisterous crowd sang “he’s got sandpaper, in his hands”, to which he replied by showing them his empty pockets.

But he didn’t have a good response when he went out to bat later that day, and his opening partner fared even worse.

Bancroft, preferred ahead of Marcus Harris to open the batting, looked uncomfortable throughout his 31-ball stay and immediately heaped pressure on himself to keep his spot.

Usman Khawaja looked untroubled making 40 before Ben Stokes upped his pace and snared a wicket from nowhere with the Aussies still 15 runs behind after England posted 374.

Usman Khawaja played another encouraging knock, before being removed by Ben Stokes

Smith and Head then got the Aussies in front, and remained unbeaten at stumps with one, or both, needing to be the hero coach Justin Langer called for before the game.

“This is where you find out a lot about people. Heroes can be developed in Ashes series,” Langer said.

“Every Ashes series, heroes come through … because they are up for the fight. There’s going to be plenty of times they have to show a bit of steel."

Lyon looked to be that man with a stunning double-wicket over in the first session which looked to have put the match back on an even keel after an hour of near-fruitless toil from the Aussie bowlers.    

When Lyon removed centurion Rory Burns and then Mooen Ali in the 105th over, sending Ali’s off-stump cartwheeling, England was in front by just 12, seven down, and the first Test back was on even terms.

England bowler Chris Woakes frustrated Australia with the bat.

Peter Siddle then seized on the momentum shift and sent Jonny Bairstow back to the sheds as England lost 3-4 in 11 balls with a small lead looking their best hope.

But then the Aussie attack lost its way as Chris Woakes (37 not out) and Stuart Broad (29), both of whom have Test hundreds, defied the Australian bowlers for 25 overs.

Their 65-run partnership help get their team to 374, a lead of 90, with the game well and truly back on their terms.

Australia would have been keen to get a lead in excess of 150 when they bat again with most experts confident that chasing down any more than that, on a wicket Lyon especially could exploit, would be a task too hard.

But England’s late hold-outs, and Australia’s early wickets, could make that an impossible mountain to climb.

Originally published as Steve Smith holds the key with Aussies on back foot after day three at Edgbaston