SS and MM beat GG and RR with 301-run stand for the fifth wicket
Sunday 17 December 2017 10:21, UK
Australia hit the highest Ashes score down under as Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Stuart Broad and James Anderson made history... Benedict Bermange has more after day four in Perth!
The Australia total of 662-9 is the highest score in an Ashes Test in Australia, beating Australia's 659 at Sydney in 1946.
Australia's innings was the sixth time in 2017 in which a team has scored at least 600 in a Test innings. However, it was the first of the six occasions not to be India.
Australia's innings provided the third case of five England bowlers each conceding 100 runs in an innings in Test cricket.
v Windies at Lord's in 1973 (Arnold / Willis / Greig / Underwood / Illingworth)
v Aus at Cardiff in 2009 (Anderson / Broad / Swann / Flintoff / Panesar)
v Aus at Perth in 2017 (Anderson / Broad / Woakes / Overton / Ali)
Uniquely, six Zimbabwean bowlers conceded at least 100 runs each against Sri Lanka at Bulawayo in 2004 (Hondo, Panyangara, Mupariwa, Nkala, Chigumbura, Matsikenyeri
Stuart Broad conceded the joint-second most runs without taking a wicket for England in an innings against Australia:
0-146, Andy Caddick, The Oval, 2001
0-142, JJ Warr, Sydney, 1951
0-142, Stuart Broad, Perth, 2017
Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh's partnership of 301 is the highest in Test history by two players whose first names and surnames started with the same letter.
The previous best was 199 between Gordon (yes I know his first given name was Cuthbert but he was known as Gordon!) Greenidge and Richie Richardson for Windies against Australia at Bridgetown in 1991.
Smith falling lbw to James Anderson is the 50th occurrence in Tests of the number one-ranked batsman being dismissed by the number one-ranked bowler.
When Anderson took the wicket of Smith, he and Broad became the leading pace-bowling combination in Test history in terms of wickets taken when playing together. The only two pairs ahead of them are pace-spin combos.
This Test has now seen more runs added for the fifth wicket than any other Test in history. The previous record of 563 runs was set at Port-of-Spain between England and the Windies in 2009.
