Dismissing Steve Smith has been the toughest task for India in this series. He has notched up 698 runs in seven innings so far at an average of 139.60, and has hardly looked troubled against any of the Indian bowlers. Smith’s 117 in the first innings of the SCG Test was his fourth century in as many Tests as Australia’s captain. While this knock is the last in a series of tons, it holds a special place in his mind, for it is his first triple-digit Test score at his home ground, which is also his “favourite ground in the whole world”. “It has been a very special summer for me personally but I always put the team first and the success of the team over the last few Tests has been outstanding,” Smith said. “It is a special feeling to score a century here at my home ground. It is my favourite place to play cricket. “I am happy with my form and way I am batting. I was really disappointed to get to a half-volley today (off Umesh Yadav). If I hadn’t I could have had a bit of fun in the afternoon. But that’s cricket.” Smith, however, was glad he managed to survive the initial stage of his stay in the middle and went on to play a long innings. “Yesterday afternoon they tried to get me out caught at leg slip like they did in Melbourne. That played on my mind,” he said. “The ball was soft and the wicket was slow. I played myself in and from there I felt very comfortable.” The aspect of Australia’s first innings of 572 for 7 (dec) that pleased Smith the most was the fact that his top-order batsmen got runs and didn’t leave it for the tailenders to slog out big run. It was the first time in the history of Australian cricket that all the top six batsmen scored at least a half-century. “Before this match I told the batsmen that they need to step up and not leave it to the lower-order to rescue us,” Smith said. “The top six scored 50-plus runs which has never happened before and I am pleased. “The tail has really helped us out throughout the series. The batsmen got starts and left it up to the tail. I wanted the batters to get more runs here and they did that perfectly.” Even as Australia plundered yet another 500-plus score, Smith had good things to say about India’s bowling effort given the SCG wicket has been completely biased towards the batsmen. “Indians bowled pretty well this morning and it was hard to get the ball away at times,” he said. For his team’s formidable total, Smith credited the opening stand between David Warner and Chris Rogers for setting a platform that the middle-order could build on. “It helps when the bowlers are a bit tired. We try to get the bowlers to come back and make them bowl as much as we can, so that we can cash in later on,” he said. “The way Davy and Rogers played was outstanding and it really set us up for the rest of the innings.” After putting India under the pump with the bat, Australia struck an early blow with the ball as Mitchell Starc dismissed Murali Vijay for a third ball duck. Smith praised his fast bowler and said the plan is to use him in short, sharp bursts. “Starc was outstanding. He bowled a couple of quick spells. That’s the way Mitchell bowls best,” he said. “He likes bowling short spells and it is always difficult for the batsman if someone is bowling at 150 to you. If we had some luck we would have had a couple of more wickets. Hopefully he can come back stronger for each spell. We are looking forward to that aggression from him tomorrow.” Smith also hoped for the wicket to deteriorate as the match progresses for Nathan Lyon to exploit it. “Hopefully it breaks up, stays a bit up and down and there are roughs created for Lyon come on his own in the last two days. “This is not the pitch where you can blast the wickets out. We will have to be patient and build a lot of pressure,” he said.