Australia have seen many great batters, especially in the longest format. But when it comes to the modern-day greats, Australian Test vice-captain Steve Smith comes to everyone’s mind. Smith has been dominating in whites ever since he started batting at the top order.
Smith has achieved multiple milestones, but today we will talk about the twin centuries he smashed on this day (August 5) in 2019 against England during the iconic Ashes series. It was a special moment for Smith as he was banned in 2018 for his infamous ball-tampering scandal.
It was the first Test of the 5-match Test series at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, however, the decision backfired as they lost 3 wickets on the score of just 35 runs. But then came, Smith at no. 4 and displayed a phenomenal batting performance by scoring 144 runs, which included 16 fours and 2 sixes and helped the team to score 284 runs in the first innings.
Coming to bat, England’s opening batter Rory Burns smashed a brilliant hundred and helped the team to score 374 runs in response. Australia’s top order once again failed horribly in the 2nd innings but then again Smith came to the rescue and smashed another century in a single match. He played a brilliant knock of 142 runs, which included 14 fours.
With this century, he also became the 5th Australian to smash twin centuries in Ashes and the only 3rd Australian to achieve the special milestone in England. Coming back to the match, Mathew Wade also smashed a century and helped the team to score 487 runs in the 2nd innings.
Considering the surface, it looked like England might chase the target but that didn’t happen as they were bundled out for just 146 runs. Nathan Lyon was the star with the ball and picked up 6 wickets. Smith was named Player of the match for his brilliant batting performance in the match.