Cricket: Smith joins elite 'five-in-five club'

Australia's superstar skipper Steve Smith had joined another exclusive group of batsmen following his brilliant hundred in the first Test against India in Pune.

Smith made 109 in the second innings to help set his team up for a crushing 333-run victory over the hosts, handing Australia a shock one-nil lead in the four-match series, reports cricket.com.au

It was his 18th Test hundred, of which just two have been scored in the second innings, while it was also his fifth century in consecutive matches against India.

The 27-year-old is just the fifth player in Test history to score five straight hundreds against the same opposition, joining an elite list of names: Sir Donald Bradman, Shoaib Mohammad, Neil Harvey and Jacques Kallis.

Smith hit a hundred in each match of the four-Test series against India in the home summer of 2014-15, captaining Australia for the first time in the absence of an injured Michael Clarke and stamping himself as one of the next great batsmen in the sport.

His average against India now stands at 88.83 from seven matches, with five hundreds and three fifties.