Perfect Pujara converts again as cricket royalty lights up Worcester

Cheteshwar Pujara spoiled Steve Smith's highly-anticipated County Championship batting bow as another chanceless century in changeable conditions left Sussex in charge at New Road

An unseasonably large crowd descended upon New Road with one goal in mind: witness Steve Smith's majesterial batting bow in the County Championship.

A serene yet obstinant Cheteshwar Pujara century, however, would steal the hearts of the glory-chasing crowd; an eighth Sussex century the latest lustrous jewel to be added to his leaden crown, a delight that could not be ignored by even the most faithful Pears fan.

Those hoping to see international talent at domestic prices had to wait just ten balls for one of the most mouth-watering partnerships in international cricket to come to the crease. Tom Alsop and Ali Orr fell early to a probing opening spell by Ben Gibbon and Joe Leach, leaving the international duo to take centre stage with all day to bat.

Worcestershire had reason to be concerned; the inescapable reality of a fourth-wicket partnership boasting a combined 15,946 runs and 49 centuries in Test cricket took the sting out of an initially animated bowling attack.

A game of 'anything I can do, you can do better' then ensued as the pair seemed to take an almost sadistic pleasure in trading stroke-play - consummate cover drives and crisp clips off the hip made a mockery of the Worcestershire bowlers' efforts which, it must be said, did little to deserve such treatment. 

^{A large crowd flocked to New Road to watch Steve Smith and Cheteshwar Pujara [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

Rudely awoken to the possibility that one might falter, Smith stared in bemused disbelief as a persistent Josh Tongue beat his bat twice in consecutive deliveries. After the third, it was Tongue's turn to taste disbelief as he pinned Smith in front, not caring a jot that the appeared marginal on height.

Delays both for rain, and a rogue helmet-stem replacement, were the only respite as an unrelenting Pujara continued on his mission to plunder yet another county bowling attack for all their worth, and then some.

As Pujara dropped anchor into the River Severn, the Pears turned their attention to the other end. A fleeting start and nothing more from James Coles (14 off 18) followed by a resilient knock from Oli Carter (23 off 49) gave a reinvigorated Worcestershire attack hope that, if they could take Pujara out of the equation, they might find success.

Pujara, however, found an unlikely companion in Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who added the impetus Sussex needed to cultivate a lead large enough to keep themselves in the hunt for victory - an ever-present threat of rain still hangs over the rest of the match.

Accelerating with disconcerting ease, Pujara notched up his second-consecutive century at New Road just after the tea interval, while Hudson-Prentice also raced past 50, his first half-century of the year, trumping his previous highest score of 32 versus Yorkshire.

^{Fynn Hudson-Prentice shared a century partnership with Pujara [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

Together, they added 117 runs in exactly 20 overs, at one point dispatching Gibbon for five boundaries, before the Pears finally found precious relief as the tiring Matthew Waite trapped Hudson-Prentice in front.

Firmly in the shadows of his international colleagues, Ollie Robinson backed up his unerringly-stellar first-innings seven-for with a discourteous, reverse scoop-laden 21-ball 33, helping Sussex reach a commanding 109-run lead under the darkening New Road skies.

Before bad light temporarily halted proceedings, Robinson picked up exactly where he left off on day one, reminding a dwindling crowd that he, too, is just as worthy of the international adulation as Pujara or Smith. Jake Libby was his only victim in the overs before the close after flashing at one too many, gobbled up gladly by, you've guessed it, Pujara at sixth-slip.

Smith may not have submitted himself and his Ashes credentials for inspection as the on-lookers might have hoped, but the international quality on display shone through in the end.

Thanks to Pujara, Robinson, and a spate of young players shaping themselves in their mould, it doesn't matter that we are unable to extoll another royal Smith performance; the stage is set for this nip-and-tuck affair to provide Division Two with the celebration of cricket it deserves.