Steve Smith found his hands and form and somehow it is always against India as the former Australian captain notched up his 33rd Test hundred in the ongoing encounter at the Gabba in Brisbane. Smith, who has gone through a lean period in Tests in his last 20-odd innings apart from a 91 against the West Indies at this very venue, finally reached the three-figure mark and surpassed Steve Waugh's tally of 32 Test hundreds for Australia.
Smith is now second on the list of the batters with the most centuries for Australia in Tests, only behind a certain Ricky Ponting (41). Smith also went past his fellow Fab Four member Kane Williamson and is only second now behind Joe Root (36). With 33 tons, Smith equalled former England captain Alastair Cook on the all-time list. It wasn't his most fluent one but one that will be very satisfying for the run-machine as he had to fight it out and has finally gotten the reward.
This was also Smith's 10th century in World Test Championship (WTC) history as he equalled Kane Williamson and broke Indian captain Rohit Sharma's record. This isn't all as Smith also equalled Root's record of most Test centuries by a batter in Test cricket against India (10) as broke his 18-month drought of a ton in the longest format of the game.
Most centuries in World Test Championship (WTC) history
Joe Root (England) - 18 (in 116 innings)
Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) - 11 (86 innings)
Kane Williamson (New Zealand) - 10 (50 innings)
Steve Smith (Australia) - 10 (82* innings)
Rohit Sharma (India)- 9 (66 innings)
Most centuries for Australia in Tests
Ricky Ponting - 41 centuries (287 innings)
Steve Smith - 33 centuries (199 innings)
Steve Waugh - 32 centuries (260 innings)
Matthew Hayden - 30 centuries (184 innings)
Donald Bradman - 29 centuries (80 innings)
Smith stitched a magnificent 241-run partnership alongside Travis Head as the duo effectively batted India out of the game unless the visitors bat out of their skin to challenge Australia's first-innings total. India began the second day on a wonderful note taking three wickets in the first session. However, all the hard work went up in smoke as Head and Smith bullied India into submission.
