Ashes 2017-18: 3rd Test, Day 3 – Statistical Highlights

The 3rd Ashes Test turned out to be a tale of two 5th wicket stands as England’s huge stand was followed by a batting collapse whereas Australia’s stand doesn’t look to be broken any soon. Captain Steven Smith led the charge with an unbeaten 229*, his highest Test score and his maiden double ton at home. Mitchell Marsh struck his maiden Test ton with a 181-run innings that included 29 fours by sharing an unbeaten 301-run stand with Smith for the 5th wicket to extend Australia’s lead to 146 runs.

All the stats and numbers that were created during Australia’s run-fest:

2 – Steven Smith became only the 2nd captain with a double century in Test cricket in the last 23 months. Virat Kohli alone scored six double tons in the period as a captain.

3 – This game is only the 3rd in Test cricket with two double century partnerships for the 5th wicket. Port of Spain Test match between Windies and England in 2009 and the 2013 Galle Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the other two with two double hundred stands.

4 – Steven Smith scored 1000 Test runs in four consecutive calendar years since 2014. He became the 2nd player after Matthew Hayden to score 1000 Test runs in four consecutive years. Hayden made 1000 Test runs in five consecutive years between 2001 and 2006.

4 – Smith became only the 4th player after Don Bradman (8), Wally Hammond (4) and Bob Simpson (2) to amass multiple double hundreds in the Ashes. Smith scored 215 in the Lord’s Test during the 2015 tour.

7 – Smith is only 5th Australian captain and overall the 7th captain to score a double century in the Ashes. He is also the first captain to score an Ashes double since Allan Border in 1993.

108 – Innings Steven Smith needed for scoring his 22nd Test hundred. Only Don Bradman (58) and Sunil Gavaskar (101) needed fewer innings for their 22nd Test ton.

138 – Smith’s hundred in this game is the fastest of his 22 Test hundreds. He needed 138 balls for his hundred two fewer than what he needed for his century against New Zealand in 2015 at the same venue.

176 – Steven Smith’s double ton is the first for a captain in Test cricket at the WACA. The previous highest individual score for a captain in a WACA Test was 176 by Bob Simpson against India in 1977.

181* – Mitchell Marsh’s 181* is the highest score by an Australian No.6 in Test cricket since Ricky Ponting’s 197 against Pakistan in 1999 at the same venue.

5786 – Smith’s Test aggregate in the 108 innings he batted so far. This is the highest Test aggregate for any player after batting in 108 innings. He surpassed Gary Sobers’ tally of 5764 runs during this innings.