Steve Smith is back in top form! The captain of the Australian cricket team showed everyone how to bat against spin bowlers on Day 2 of the match. He scored 120 runs without being out, hitting 120 runs off 239 balls. His teammate, Alex Carey, also played brilliantly, scoring 139 runs off just 156 balls. Together, they built a great partnership, adding 239 runs for the third wicket.
With this century, Smith has now hit 36 centuries in Test cricket, tying for fifth on the all-time list with Indian legend Rahul Dravid and England’s Joe Root. He has made 17 centuries as Australia’s captain, placing him fourth in that category. Ricky Ponting holds third with 19 centuries, Virat Kohli has 20, and former South African captain Graeme Smith leads with 25 centuries.
This is Smith’s second century in this series and his fourth in the last five Test matches, after not scoring a century for 12 games. He made 101 against India in Brisbane before this amazing performance.
At the end of Day 2, Australia scored 330 runs for 3 wickets, leading Sri Lanka by 73 runs. Sri Lanka got all out for 257 runs. The partnership started after Usman Khawaja got out shortly after lunch, when the score was just 91 runs for 3 wickets. Smith was on 23 runs when an umpire’s decision ruled him lbw (out), but he successfully challenged that call, showing he wasn’t out.
He hit his 36th Test century with a boundary shot against Kamindu Mendis, and then they quickly passed Sri Lanka’s total. Carey hit two fours in one over as he raced to his hundred off just 118 balls, going past Smith’s score.
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