Australia batsman Steve Smith was back in form after scoring a hundred during the first innings of the third Test in Sydney on Friday. Smith completed his 27th Test ton and 8th against India during the course of his 131 before getting runout, courtesy a fine piece of fielding from Ravindra Jadeja who hit the bull’s eye to send the right-hander packing.
Smith became the second fastest after Don Bradman to reach 27th ton in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in his 136th innings while Bradman took just 70 innings to do so. India skipper Virat Kohli is at number three in the list as he reached the milestone in 146 innings.
Smith also stands at number two in the list of the batsmen with most number Test hundreds since 2010. Kohli is at the helm with 27 tons while Smith follows him with 26 centuries to his name. Kane Williamson and David Warner have scored 24 while former England captain Alastair Cook has notched up 23.
The former Australian skipper has now scored 1570 Test runs against India in 25 inns (with an average of 74.76).
“I’m reading a lot of things people say that I’m out of form but think I think there’s a difference between out of form and out of runs,” Smith told Fox Cricket at the drinks break. “Just nice to score a few and maybe keep a few people quiet.”
Australia were bowled out for 338 in the first innings of the third Test. Will Pucovski who made a debut in this match scored 62 while Marnus Labuschagne missed out on a hundred by just 9 runs to end his innings at 91. Jadeja picked up a four-for for India while debutant Navdeep Saini scalped a couple of wickets. The four-match series is presently levelled at 1-1.
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