Smith breaks second innings drought

Steve Smith's fourth hundred in his fifth match as captain has rescued Australia from a potentially precarious position on the fourth day of the second Commonwealth Bank Test at the WACA.

It was the 26-year-old's 12th Test hundred – making him just one of nine players to have posted that many centuries before turning 27 – and his seventh from his past nine Tests in Australia. 

WATCH: Day 4 Wrap from the WACA where the batsmen continue to rule

Shifting up to No.3 in the absence of the injured Usman Khawaja, Smith came to the crease with the score at 1-8 and New Zealand still in front by 57 runs.

He counter-attacked from the outset, hammering the fourth and fifth balls he faced to the fence as he and Adam Voges (101no) combined for a double-century third-wicket stand.

"In terms of the match situation, to come in two wickets down and still behind New Zealand's first innings it was important that Steve and I put on a partnership," Voges said. "Fortunately we were able to do that.

"It puts us in a really good position; at least we've got some options tomorrow in terms of trying to force a result."

Smith offered one chance on 96 when he flicked a Matt Henry delivery down leg-side and a diving BJ Watling put down the catch, and despite being struck on the helmet by Trent Boult on 103, he ended the day with a flurry of boundaries to move his score along to 131 from 170 balls.

"He's just on top of his game at the moment," Voges added. "I thought he batted beautifully right from the first ball he faced.

"He took the game on after the loss of Joe (Burns) early and that's what good No.3 batsmen have the ability to do – to take the game on and swing the momentum back your way even though you've lost an early wicket.

"He was exceptional again today." 

WATCH: Smith goes back-to-back-to-back to third-man

It was a dramatic turnaround from day two of the Test, during which Smith looked below his fluent best in scratching out 27 from 68 balls before edging an ambitious cross-batted swipe to be caught behind in particularly ungainly fashion.

Smith's hundred was also his first in the second innings for Australia, with a previous best of 97 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi among eight fifties.

It comes after a run of 11 first-innings hundreds through a period in which he claimed the mantle of the world's No.1-ranked Test batsman.

He currently sits in second position, one point behind South Africa superstar AB de Villiers, who made 85 in the Proteas match against India, also currently underway.

Throughout that time, beginning with his maiden Test hundred in his 12th Test, Smith has only once gone more than two Test matches without scoring a century – that lone occasion being the second and third Tests against South Africa and the two-match series against Pakistan.

His record of one hundred every 5.58 innings is second only to Sir Donald Bradman (2.75) among Australians with 10-plus Test centuries. 

Most Test hundreds before turning 27

Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) 22

Alastair Cook (Eng) 19

Sir Donald Bradman (Aus) 15

Neil Harvey (Aus) 15

Sir Garfield Sobers (WI) 14

Graeme Smith (SA) 13

AB de Villiers (SA) 12

Steve Smith (Aus) 12

Kane Williamson (NZ) 12