Galle [Sri Lanka], February 8: In the second Test match in Galle, star Australian batsman Steve Smith once again rewrote history with a spectacular century against Sri Lanka.

Smith put on a spin masterclass on Friday, finishing day two at 120* in 239 balls with nine fours and a six, giving the Australians the upper hand.

Smith’s century put him ahead of previous captain and renowned Australian batsman Ricky Ponting as the team’s top run scorer in Asia. Smith has amassed 1,983 runs at an average of 53.59 in 24 Test matches played in Asia. His top score was 178*, and he has seven hundreds and eight fifties in 42 innings.

With 1,889 runs in 28 games and 48 innings, including five hundreds and ten fifties, Ponting fell to second place. In Asian circumstances, his highest score is 150.

Smith is also the sixth Australian to score 17,000 runs for his country. He has amassed 17,016 runs at an average of 48.06 in 348 international matches, including 80 fifties and 48 hundreds. 239 is his highest score. Ponting leads the run-scoring statistics with 27,368 runs at an average of 45.84 throughout 667 innings and 559 international matches. The highest score was 257, with 7 hundreds and 146 fifties.

Smith now shares the fifth-highest century-making total in Test cricket, with 36 tons, behind Indian great Rahul Dravid and England’s Joe Root.

Smith has also reached his 17th Test century away from home, surpassing Indian batting legend Virat Kohli (16 hundreds) and tying West Indies great Brian Lara. The majority of Sachin Tendulkar’s Test hundreds have come away from home. With his seventh century in Asia, he now ranks third among Test-match century-makers in Asia, behind only former England opener Alastair Cook, who has nine tons. He is joined by Kane Williamson and Root of New Zealand.

Beginning with the fourth Test match against India, which took place on Boxing Day in Melbourne, Smith has now scored hundreds in four straight Test matches. Once sitting outside the top 10 of ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 run-getters, Smith is now at sixth spot. He has amassed 1,313 runs at an average of 42.35 in 19 Test matches, including five hundreds and four fifties. 141 is his highest score.

Prior to the game, Sri Lanka chose to bat first after winning the toss. Half-centuries from Kusal Mendis (85 in 139 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Dinesh Chandimal (74 in 163 balls, with six fours and a six) took Sri Lanka to 257 in 97.4 overs.

Australia’s leading wicket-takers were Nathan Lyon (3/96), Matthew Kuhnemann (3/63), and Mitchell Starc (3/27).

Australia struggled at 91/3 after losing Travis Head (21), Marnus Labuschagne (4), and Usman Khawaja (36) early in the first innings. However, centuries from Alex Carey (139* in 156 balls, with 13 fours and two sixes) and Smith (120* in 239 balls, with nine fours and a six) took Australia to 330/3 at the end of day two, leading by 73 runs.