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Steve Smith's scores 36th Test century Photograph: (X)
Australian skipper Steve Smith scored his 36th Test ton on Friday to equal Joe Root. The feat was achieved during the second day of the final Test match versus Sri Lanka in Galle. Smith had scored a century in the opening Test match and in the process had gone past 10,000 Test runs. Smith came to bat at the fall of Marnus Labuschagne who was out LBW for just four runs to Prabath Jayasuriya.
After surviving a confident LBW shout in his very first ball, Smith went on to defy the spin-heavy Sri Lankan attack. The 35-year-old showed composure to see out the session as Australia were 85/2 at lunch with Smith batting on 23 runs. Once play resumed, Australia’s batting sensation kept scoring runs with ease and rarely seemed troubled.
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It's Steve Smith Test century number 36!
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 7, 2025
His fourth in the last five Tests too 🔥#SLvAUSpic.twitter.com/vxfS1ShMFK
Usman Khawaja and Smith added 54 runs for the third wicket before the veteran opener was out for 36 to Nishan Peiris. Alex Carey was promoted to bat at number five and the wicketkeeper joined his skipper and began to take the home team bowlers to the cleaners.
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Steve Smith scores terrific ton to put Australia in firm control
Australia’s fourth wicket pairing of Smith and Carey then added 50 runs in just 71 balls. The duo batted with aggression as they ran well between the wickets and also hit boundaries at regular intervals. Smith reached his half-century off 98 balls with his innings containing five boundaries and a six.
Sri Lankan bowlers were left clueless as both Carey and Smith kept attacking the bowlers to raise their century stand to 144 runs. While the Aussie wicketkeeper was scoring boundaries, skipper Smith went into a shell and rotated the strike well.
In the final ball of the 63rd over, Smith got a short ball from Kamindu Mendis which he pulled to the mid-wicket region. The ball sped to the fence for a four as Australia’s skipper raised his bat and removed his cap to celebrate the ton. This was his 36th Test ton as well as his seventh century in Asia and his 17th century as captain.