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Steve Smith Does It Again, Snaring A Ripper Of A Catch

Smith's ripper of a reflex gave Steven O'Keeffe his first wicket in the match.
Ch Nine

Steve Smith took two of the greatest catches you'll ever see earlier this summer. And OK, the one he just grabbed in the third Test between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG wasn't quiiiiite as spectacular as the other two, but gee, it was close.

Smith's ripper of a reflex catch at first slip gave Steven O'Keeffe his first wicket in this match.

The reason it was so great is that at first, the Australian skipper seemed to be staying in his spot as though he was about to appeal for an LBW. But the batsman, Asad Shafiq, had inside edged the ball onto his pad.

When it ricocheted in Smith's direction, he had to adjust, and fast. Which he did, because he is Steve Smith.

Meanwhile, Pakistan batsman Younus Khan made a century, the 34th of his 115-match career, and was 136 not out at stumps, with Pakistan 8-271, still 267 in arrears of Australia's first innings of 8 (declared) for 538.

Pakistan lost wickets steadily all day, started by the needless run-out of Azhar Ali, who has been Pakistan's best batsman this series and who, with his 395 runs, has broken the record for the most runs scored by any Pakistani in a Test series in Australia.

Crowd favourite Nathan Lyon was the bowling star for Australia, taking 3-98.

You'll notice, by the way, that we spelled his name "Younus" whereas Cricket Australia spelled it "Younis". Both spellings seem to be used, so we made some polite inquiries and learned that the man himself prefers the "u" spelling over the "i" spelling. But apparently there's no official way to do it.

Just thought you'd like to know. Live match scores are here.

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