Alex Carey has become the first Australian wicket-keeper to etch his name in the Book of Records after scoring a test century during the second test against Sri Lanka.
Alex Carey who notched up his hundred in just 118 balls on day 01 of the test, continued his batting to cross 150+ runs on day 02 to trouble Sri Lanka bowlers. This was Carey’s test hundred and his first since December 2022.
Coming into the bat in the 25th over with Australia struggling at 91 for 3 after the dismissal of Usman Khawaja, Carey faced early pressure from the Sri Lanka spinners.
However, he steadied the innings with a composed approach before accelerating his scoring rate. He found the gaps consistently playing elegant strokes against Dhananjaya de Silva and Ramesh Mendis and even launched a six off Mendis to shift momentum in Australia’s favour.
By tea time, Carey smashed fifty off 69 balls after the break. As he gained confidence, he build a 150+ runs partnership with Steve Smith contributed significantly, reached his 36th test century in the process.
He brought up his second successive century in the ongoing test series and added up a 150-run plus stand with Alex Carey during his stay.
He got levelled with Joe Root and Rahul Dravid after the 36th century of his career in the second match against Sri Lanka on February 07. Smith who’s captaining Australia in the series in Pat Cummins’ absence, continued his rich form and reached the landmark.
He has now joint-fifth most centuries in Test Cricket’s history along with Root and Dravid. Smith walked into bat after Australia were reduced to 37/2 following the dismissals of Travis Head (21) and Marnus Labuschagne (4).
Despite initial challenges in the second test, Smith survived a LBW appeal on the first ball he faced and a close edge off Prabath Jayasuriya’s bowling on 12.
His skills and experience in subcontinent conditions have prove invaluable for Australia, especially on a challenging Galle pitch where Sri Lanka scored 257 runs in the first innings.
Earlier, Smith became Australia’s highest test run-scorer in the Asian Subcontinent. He went past legendary Ricky Ponting to surpass the tally of 1889 runs in Asia. Earlier on Day 01, Ponting’s record for the most Test catches by an Australian outfielder (197).
His century was his third in four matches in Sri Lanka and his sixth overall in Asia, drawing him level with Allan Border for the most Test centuries by an Australian in the subcontinent.
