"The way we pulled it back to win from the position we were in is extremely pleasing. I'm proud of the way the boys fought."
Tuesday 5 November 2019 17:13, UK
Steve Smith was delighted that "one of my best" centuries laid the foundations for Australia's victory in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.
Smith scored an unbeaten 141 in Australia's first innings at the Gabba after coming to the crease with his side 30-2 in reply to England's 302 all out.
The home skipper had to temper his scoring rate with his team subsequently slipping to 76-4 and 209-7 before they surpassed Joe Root's side and posted 328 - Smith's 261-ball ton his slowest in Tests.
Australia then shot out England for 195 on day four before David Warner (87no) and debutant Cameron Bancroft (82no) eased Smith's charges to victory in a little over an hour on day five.
"It meant a lot. I really had to dig deep. It was tough, my slowest (century), but one of my best," Smith said at the post-match presentation about his 21st hundred in Test cricket and sixth against England.
Smith also saluted Bancroft and "genius" bowler Nathan Lyon, the latter taking 3-67 in England's second innings to move past 50 Test wickets in a calendar year, the first Australia off-spinner to achieve that feat since Hugh Trumble in 1902.
"Cameron looked very good - he had good plans and played very straight. The partnership with David [Warner] was magnificent," added Smith, whose side now head to Adelaide for the day-night second Test, from Saturday.
"Lyon was particularly good. He is going from strength to strength and bowling like a genius. He did a terrific job holding up one end."
Australia maintained their proud record of not having lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988 - a run that now stretches to 29 games - despite losing the toss and being asked to bowl by England on a slow deck.
"We had to show some really good character throughout," said Smith. "Bowling first at the Gabba is hard.
"The wicket was a lot slower than we anticipated and the bowlers had to be on. I thought they did a terrific job to get them out for 300.
"The way we pulled it back to win from the position we were in is extremely pleasing. I'm proud of the way the boys fought.
"The first Test of an Ashes is very important - there was a bit of pressure but I'm really pleased with how we played. I think this team has the potential to do some really good things."
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"I think we've made our intentions pretty clear what we are going to do to the bottom end of the order. Fortunately that worked for us in this game."
