Ashes 2017: Steve Smith breaks Garry Sobers’ 50-year old record

Steve Smith registered several records as he took Australia to a commanding position in Perth. (Twitter/Cricket Australia)

It was a perfect day for Australia captain Steve Smith. Playing his 59th Test, Smith went on to register his second Test double century on the third day of the third Test against England at WACA Stadium in Perth. The 28-year old led from the front as he played a captain’s knock and ensured that the home side gains a strong advantage before stumps. He became the first captain to score a double ton in an Ashes Test since Allan Border in 1993.

He also became only the fourth batsman to score two or more Ashes double hundreds. Smith achieved the feat last time at Lords in 2015. The only other cricketers, apart from him, who have scored two or more Ashes double hundreds are Bobby Simpson (2), Wally Hammond (4) and Sir Don Bradman (8).

Throughout his innings, Smith looked comfortable in the middle and played extremely safe cricket. But in spite of being out of danger, he did not slow down his innings and played at a fast pace. His hundred, which came in 138 balls, is the fastest Test ton of his career. Moreover, Steve Smith’s 200, which he completed in 301 balls with 26 fours and one six, is the quickest in Ashes for Australia in almost 80 years, since Stan McCabe scored a 257-ball 200 in Nottingham in 1938.

Steve Smith also broke Sir Garfield Sobers record in the course of his innings. He became the cricketer with maximum runs after 108 innings in the history of Test cricket. Smith has scored 5786* runs so far, as he reached 229* at stumps on Day 3. He also completed his 1000 runs in 2017, equalling Matthew Hayden’s record of scoring 1000 Test runs for four consecutive years. Sobers had earlier held the record of scoring 5,764 in 108 innings since 1968.

Earlier in the morning, Smith became the third fastest to reach 22 Test tons after achieving the feat in 108 innings. Only Sir Don Bradman (58) and Sunil Gavaskar (101) did it in quicker time. He also equalled David Warner’s record of three Test tons at WACA with his hundred.

His score of 229* is now the highest score at WACA, as he surpassed Australia’s Ian Redpath’s score of 171 at the stadium. He is most likely to hold the record as it is the last Test in the stadium.

Australia took a commanding lead of 146 runs on Day 3 in Perth with Smith and Mitchell Marsh both remaining not out at stumps.