Smith's vital ton in Aussies Ashes chase

Nov 25, 2017 - 8:46 AM Steve Smith has produced one of the most important centuries of his career for Australia on a tense third day of the Ashes opener.

Smith demonstrated monk-like discipline to be unbeaten on 141 after more than eight hours at the crease - a vital performance that helped his side reassert themselves in a contest that threatened to slip away from them, and establish a first-innings lead of 26 runs on Saturday in Brisbane.

It took him 261 balls to reach triple figures, courtesy of a sweetly-timed cover drive off Stuart Broad's bowling - one of 14 boundaries.

When he finally got there, Smith showed just what it meant with an emotional celebration, kissing the badge on his helmet and thumping the one on his chest with his fist.

"It'd be up there, definitely," Smith told reporters when asked where it ranked in his career.

"I guess the situation we were in, to try and get us to where we are now... it didn't look like we were going to get there for a while.

"It just meant a lot.

"Ashes series are always huge, as a captain I want to lead from the front as much as I can with my performance and the way I bat so all of it came out when I got to 100.

"I had to work very hard."

It was Smith's 21st Test ton, his sixth against England and the first of the series.

It was also the slowest, in terms of balls faced, by an Australian batsman since Simon Katich in 2010. But it was a true captain's knock at a time when his country needed it.

The Ashes series was already looming as the biggest challenge of his captaincy but the actual circumstances piled even more pressure on his shoulders.

He came in at 2-30 and as wickets continued to tumble around him, he was the only batsman to master an uncharacteristically slow and awkward Gabba wicket.

Smith, who was 64 not out overnight, was the constant in two key partnerships.

He forged a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shaun Marsh (51), which dragged Australia back from the brink of disaster at 4-76.

Then he combined for 66 runs with a plucky Pat Cummins (42), frustrating the English attack and taking away the ascendancy from Joe Root's side before Australia was bowled out for 328 - a lead of 26.

Source: AAP