Perth Test: Smith's imperious batting demolishes England's hope

Australia skipper Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh, with their incredible batting, ground England on Day three of the third Ashes Test here at the WACA Ground on Saturday.

At stumps, Australia were at 549, leading England by 146 runs with 6 wickets remaining.

The Play on third Day started with the equation looking fair for England but Smith turned the tables around as he humiliated the visitors with his unbeaten 229 at Day end.

Meanwhile, the Australian skipper also became the third quickest to hit 22 Test hundreds.

Smith reached the landmark in just 108 innings. Only legendary Don Bradman (58 innings) and Sunil Gavaskar (101 innings) have reached the mark in fewer innings.

 

England bowlers seemed powerless to limit Smith as he was well backed by Marsh.

Marsh, who replaced for Peter Handscomb, proved his worth with a smashing 118 and shared an extensive 301-run partnership with the skipper.

England just claimed one early wicket of Usman Khawaja after torturous 90 overs in the field.

It was Chris Woakes who took the lone wicket of the day.

Australia are currently leading the five-match Ashes series 2-0 against England. They will regain the coveted urn if they win any of the final three remaining matches.