TOP: Australia’s Steve Smith celebrates his century on the first day of the third Ashes Test match against England at the WACA ground in Perth, Australia, yesterday. EXTREME RIGHT: Pakistan’s captain Mohammad Hafeez (left) and Sri Lanka’s captain Dinesh Chandimal (right) pose with the trophy after the two-match Twenty20 series ended in a draw in Dubai, yesterday.
PERTH, Australia: A vital century by Steve Smith put Australia in a strong position and frustrated England in the third Ashes Test after they had threatened to bowl the hosts out cheaply yesterday.
Australia’s fragile top order again stuttered as the hosts slumped to 143/5 on the first day, before Smith came to the rescue with his second Test ton in what could be the series decider.
At stumps Australia were 326/6 with Smith unbeaten on 103 and Mitchell Johnson on 39, further loosening England’s grip on the trophy at 2-0 down and three to play.
Having turned the first two Tests with his fiery fast bowling, Johnson was threatening to inflict more pain on the English, this time with the bat.
Johnson had hit six boundaries as he and Smith added a quickfire 59 and counting for the seventh wicket.
English fast bowling coach David Saker admitted his team again let a commanding position slip away, as he has been their way in this series.
“No doubt we let it slip,” he conceded. “And it is probably not the first time in the series we’ve had them on the ropes and haven’t finished the job.
“Credit to them, but we didn’t deliver what we should have delivered today.
“We pride ourselves on making it hard for the opposition to score, but we found it hard to do that.
“We didn’t get it right.”
Smith said his innings was a career highlight and admitted the English had the home side on the ropes.
“We were under a bit of pressure, losing a few wickets in the middle, but I was lucky enough to build a partnership with Hads (Brad Haddin) and Mitch at the end,” he said.
“We are in a decent position and hopefully if we start well tomorrow we can post a really good score.”
Smith said the English bowlers were guilty of pitching the ball “a yard” too short.
Australia lead the five-Test series after big wins in Brisbane and Adelaide, and can secure the Ashes with victory in Perth.
But not for the first time in the series they found themselves in early trouble with the bat after winning the toss.
Playing his 100th Test, as was his English counterpart Alastair Cook, Australian captain Michael Clarke elected to bat.
Despite the pitch offering pace and bounce, there was no sideways movement and it looked a good strip to bat on, but England capitalised on poor shot-selection by the home side.
All of the Australian batsmen, bar opener Chris Rogers (11) who was run out by Jimmy Anderson, fell to reckless shots. AFP
