Steve Smith scores 27th career Test ton: Records broken
What's the story
Australia's star batsman Steve Smith got back to his groove in the ongoing third Test against India at the SCG. Smith, who resumed Day 2 on 31*, went on to add 100 more on Friday to bring up a superb century. His heroics helped Australia amass 338/10 in their first innings. Smith's 131-run knock was long due. Here we present the records broken.
Day 2
How did the Australian innings pan out?
Australia resumed Day 2 on 166/2 and needed fluidity to get a big score. Marnus Labuschagne added another 24 runs to his 67 to be dismissed for 91. Labuschagne and Smith added a crucial 100-plus stand. From 206/2, Australia lost their way and were reduced to 278/7. Smith rallied on and was the last man to be dismissed by a Ravindra Jadeja run-out.
Australia
Smith is Australia's 10th-highest scorer in Tests
Smith is now the 10th-highest run-scorer for Australia in Test cricket. Playing his 76th Test match, the right-handed batsman has racked up 7,368 runs at an average of 61.91. He surpassed David Warner's tally of 7,249 runs in Tests. Notably, Warner was dismissed for just five in the first innings.
Feats
Smith surpasses Kohli in terms of runs, equals century list
Smith has surpassed Virat Kohli in terms of career Test runs. Kohli has scored 7,318 runs from 147 innings at an average of 53.41. Smith has toppled Kohli in just his 136th inning. Smith also equaled Kohli's tally of 27 Test centuries. Besides Kohli, he also managed to equal the likes of Allan Border and Graeme Smith in terms of Test tons (27 each).
SCG
Smith registers these records at the SCG
Playing his eighth Test at the SCG, Smith has raced to 742 runs at an astronomical average of 74.20. He became the 16th Australian batsman to surpass the 700-run mark at the SCG. Smith now has three Test tons at the SCG and equaled the likes of Steve Waugh and Justin Langer. Interestingly, this was also his highest Test score at this venue.
Test records
Smith smashes these records after a blistering ton
Smith is the second-fastest to 27 Test centuries (136 innings). Sir Don Bradman had taken 70 innings to achieve this mark. He is the sixth-highest century scorer for Australia, alongside Border. Smith has surpassed the 1,500-run mark against India in Tests (1,570). He now has eight tons against Team India. This is the joint-best tally alongside former West Indies legend Gary Sobers.