Australian skipper Steve Smith needed just 14 runs to go past Cheteshwar Pujara’s tally of most runs in Tests in 2017. With Smith’s current form, it was only a matter of overs, and the Australian skipper achieved it in the first innings of the fourth Ashes Test.

Smith’s century in the second innings, helped him to reach the tally of 1305 runs ahead of Pujara (1,140) and Dean Elgar (1,128).

Before the third Ashes Test, Smith had 888 runs in 9 Tests and in Boxing day Test he scored his 23rd Test ton. It might also be noted, that Smith has now faced 1,200 deliveries in the ongoing series.

This, however, is the fourth consecutive time Steve has scored more than 1,000 runs in a calendar year. Only Matthew Hayden (5 times) is ahead of Smith.