Steve Smith recorded his first century of the ongoing Ashes series during the third day of the Sydney Test. The batter played a gritty knock that helped his team in posting a mammoth first-inning total against England. He also became the third player to score a hundred in the match after Joe Root and Travis Head.
The knock saw Smith become the player with the sixth-most Test hundreds in history, surpassing Rahul Dravid's tally of 36. The Australia batter now has 37 tons under his name in the format. While Dravid scored 36 hundreds in the 164 Tests that he played in his career, Smith has already surpassed that mark in his 123rd Test.
Players with most hundreds in Tests -
1. Sachin Tendulkar (India) - 51 centuries
2. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - 45 centuries
3. Joe Root (England) - 41 centuries
4. Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 41 centuries
5. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) - 38 centuries
6. Steve Smith (Australia) - 37 centuries
7. Rahul Dravid (India) - 36 centuries
Smith achieves another milestone
This was Smith's 13th hundred in The Ashes which saw him become the player with the second-most tons in the history of the series. He is now only behind the legendary Sir Don Bradman, who scored 19 Test centuries against England. Smith is the only active player to be present in the top five.
Players with most centuries in The Ashes -
1. Sir Don Bardman (Australia) - 19 centuries
2. Steve Smith (Australia) - 13 centuries
3. Jack Hobbs (England) - 12 centuries
4. Steve Waugh (Australia) - 10 centuries
5. David Gower (England) - 9 centuries
6. Wally Hammond (England) - 9 centuries
Australia in total control at SCG
Meanwhile, both Smith and Head registered hundreds in Australia's first innings of the Sydney Test. Thanks to the two blistering knocks, Australia reached a humongous total of 518/7 by the end of Day 3. They have already taken a 134-run lead over the visitors and look to be in firm control of the game. While Smith is unbeaten on 129, Beau Webster is also unbeaten on 42 and the duo will be looking to pile on more runs as the action resumes on Day 4.