Australian spearhead Steve Smith finally ended his century drought on Friday (July 08) as the New South Wales cricketer smashed a brilliant unbeaten 28th Test ton on the opening day of the 2nd match against Sri Lanka at Galle.
Smith remained unbeaten on a patient 212-ball 109 as Australia finished the proceedings at 298/5.
This is Smith's first Test hundred and his first international ton since registering a three-figure score against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during that historic series back in January 2021.
The 33-year-old had to wait for over 500 days (544) for another Test hundred. Still, he'd be happy that he has finally broken the dry spell and at a time when Australia is nearing another historic Test series win in Asia following their 1-0 triumph in Pakistan earlier this year.
'Smudge' smoked Lankan pacer Kasun Rajitha for a boundary through the extra-cover region to bring up the feat and his teammates were a cock-a-hoop as he raised his bat for the 28th time in the longest format of the game.
It has been an interesting last few days for Smith. The former Australian captain and current Test vice-captain was tragically run out following a horrendous mix-up with Usman Khawaja during the 1st Test.
It did not go down well with Smith and he made sure he let Khawaja know about it with his angry gesture.
The former Aussie skipper's reaction was met with fierce criticism from former cricketers like Mark Taylor and Adam Gilchrist. Meanwhile, captain Pat Cummins absolved him and also made it clear that he'd have to step in if such a thing happens next time.
On Friday, Smith did what he did for a living between 2014-19: grind the opposition attack to the tune of another match-defining score in an away Test. It was his 14th Test ton away from the comforts of Australia.
He got an able company in the form of Marnus Labuschagne, who notched up his maiden Test hundred away from home with a counter-attacking 156-ball 104.
"Both of us felt like we'd left some runs out there for the last few Tests. So it was nice to cash in when we got an opportunity," Labuschagne said after he and Smith brought up their milestone in Galle.
"From last week I was very disappointed. Probably just going away from my process rather than the dismissal," Labuschagne added.
"And obviously Smudge got run out (in the last Test). The boys said this morning when he rocked up to the ground, he was in the Smudge (Smith) headspace and he looked locked in," he added.
Smith will look to pick up from where he has left when he takes guard tomorrow.