Steve Smith on Thursday notched up his third double hundred on day 2 of the ongoing fourth Ashes Test match against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, helping Australia post a dominating 497/8 declare in first innings and leaving them favorites to claim a win and guarantee to retain the urn. (MATCH SCORECARD)
Interestingly, all of Smith's double hundreds have in the Ashes series. Smith, who brought up his double ton in 310 balls, became the first Australian since Allan Border to score 500+ runs in consecutive Ashes series.
Smith, however, didn't survive too long after reaching the landmark and fell on 211 to Joe Root.
Earlier, Smith got an unlikely reprieve because of a no-ball by England spinner Jack Leach as Australia reached tea on 369/5.
Smith was on his way back to the pavilion, berating himself, after edging Leach to Ben Stokes at slip when on 118. The world's No. 1 Test batsman was given a life, however, when replays showed Leach had overstepped - an embarrassment for a spinner.
It wasn't long before Smith was becoming the first Australian since Allan Border in 1981-85 to score more than 500 runs in consecutive Ashes series and only the third player - after Don Bradman and Jack Hobbs - to post that number in three Ashes series.
Captain Tim Paine was alongside Smith on 58, having been dropped twice - on 9 and 49. Both were straightforward chances, with Jason Roy spilling the ball at second slip off Stuart Broad and Sam Curran putting it down at midwicket off Jofra Archer.
Curran was only on the field because Stokes was forced to quit midway through an over he was bowling, due to soreness in his right shoulder. He was only briefly off the field.
It was Paine's first half-century of the series, and in nearly a year in tests.
Smith struck 144 and 142 in the first Test at Edgbaston, and then 92 in the first innings of the second Test at Lord's before delayed concussion - felt after being struck on the neck by a bouncer from Jofra Archer - meant he didn't bat in the second innings.
He missed the third Test, won by England at Headingley.
Back in the team, Smith - jeered relentlessly in England owing to his involvement in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa last year - even received a round of applause from fans in Manchester after getting to triple figures with a clip off the pads for two.
The teams are 1-1 with two matches left. Australia will retain the urn if the series is drawn.
(With AP Inputs)
