Steve Smith made an unbeaten 129 to follow up Travis Head's century on the third day of the final Ashes Test, as Australia inched closer to a 4-1 series victory over England.

The hosts reached stumps with a 134-run lead at 518-7 in their first innings, with England proving completely incapable of doing any damage in the field as their old nemesis Smith ran riot.

Head was only nine runs adrift of his ton when play resumed in Sydney, and he swiftly got over the line with a thumping four off Ben Stokes' bowling in the 39th over. 

He was finally trapped lbw by Jacob Bethell almost 30 overs later, appealing in vain as his joint third-best red-ball innings ended with 163 runs off 166 deliveries.

Head's rapturous ovation was followed by another for Usman Khawaja as he walked out for his final Test appearance before retiring from international cricket, but he only managed 17 off 49 balls before missing a full toss and falling to Brydon Carse. 

Khawaja had contributed to a 51-run partnership with Smith, who was dropped by Zak Crawley in a costly fielding error from the tourists, who had earlier seen Will Jacks drop Head.

Josh Tongue accounted for Alex Carey (16) and Carse had Cameron Green (37) caught, but Ashes debutant Matthew Potts posted miserable figures of 0-141 and Stokes bowled 26 overs in an attempt to mask England's deficiencies with the ball.

Smith came back for three to bring up his century off Bethell's bowling and would end the day unbeaten on 129, with Australia now in a commanding position to round off their successful series with another victory.

Data Debrief: Head makes it a hat-trick, Smith climbs the charts

Head's century was his third in the 2025-26 Ashes series with one Australian innings yet to come, and only three players have ever made more tons in a single edition. 

And you have to go back a long way for those achievements, with Herbert Sutcliffe (in 1924-25 for England), Walter Hammond (in 1928-29 for England) and Donald Bradman (in 1930 for Australia) all recording four centuries in a single series.

Smith then hit his 37th Test ton and his 13th against England after being dropped on 12 by Crawley, as he climbed the charts in the pantheon of Ashes greats.

With 3,682 runs to his name against England, Smith has overtaken England's Jack Hobbs (3,636 between 1908 and 1930) to go second in the all-time Ashes run-scoring charts, behind only Bradman (5,028 between 1928 and 1948).