Gabba Test: Smith, Hazlewood bring Australia in command on Day 3

After Australia skipper Steve Smith's century, pacer Josh Hazlewood further piled the pressure back on England by bagging two quick wickets on Day Three of the opening Ashes Test here at the Gabba on Saturday.

At the end of the day's play, Hazlewood had already scalped two wickets in quick session to leave England wobbling at 33 for two, clinging to a seven-run lead.

The visitors lost two early wickets of former skipper Alastair Cook (seven) and James Vince (two). Earlier, resuming at yesterday's score of 165-4, Smith (unbeaten at 140) produced a calm and composed performance as he batted for more than eight and a half hours to notch up his 21st Test century as Australia scrambled to 328 all out and a lead of 26.

The unstoppable Australian skipper, who is playing his 57th Test match of his international career, also joined an elite club of hitting the fastest 21 Test centuries. Smith, who took 105 innings to reach the feat, surpassed Sachin Tendulkar, who achieved the same feat in 110 innings. Only two other cricketers, Australia's Don Bradman (56 innings) and India's Sunil Gavaskar (98 innings) have reached 21 centuries before Smith.

The 28-year-old, however, scored the slowest hundred for Australia in the Ashes since David Boon's century in 1993 at Lord's. Smith faced 261 deliveries to reach the three-figure mark, Boon had faced 284 deliveries to reach a hundred.

Meanwhile, Shaun Marsh (51) and Pat Cummins (42) were other notable contributors for Australia after the hosts crashed to 76-4.

For England, Stuart Broad bagged three wickets while Moeen Ali and James Anderson finished with two wickets each. Chris Woakes, Joe Root and Jake Ball also chipped in with a wicket each.

-ANI