First in a decade as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith make double tons
Labuschagne completed his second Test double century while Smith made his fourth as Perth witnessed the rare occurrence of two double hundreds in a single team innings.
This was only the 17th instance of two double hundreds coming in a team innings in Test cricket history and also the first such instance since January 2012 when Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke made double hundreds against India in Adelaide.
West Indies go into stumps unscathed but have a mountain to climb!
— ICC (@ICC) December 1, 2022
Watch the #AUSvWI series live on https://t.co/CPDKNxoJ9v (in select regions) 📺
📝 Scorecard: https://t.co/YyderopRZu pic.twitter.com/Nh1RakDsyX
Two double hundreds in one team innings of a Test
| Player 1 | Player 2 | Match, Venue, Year |
| Bill Ponsford (266) | Don Bradman (244) | AUS v ENG, Oval, 1934 |
| Sid Barnes (234) | Don Bradman (234) | AUS v ENG, Sydney, 1946 |
| Conrad Hunte (260) | Garry Sobers (365*) | WI v PAK, Kingston, 1958 |
| Bill Lawry (210) | Bob Simpson (201) | AUS v WI, Bridgetown, 1965 |
| Mudassar Nazar (231) | Javed Miandad (280*) | PAK v IND, Hyderabad, 1983 |
| Graeme Fowler (201) | Mike Gatting (207) | ENG v IND, Chennai, 1985 |
| Qasim Umar (206) | Javed Miandad (203*) | PAK v SL, Faisalabad, 1985 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (340) | Roshan Mahanama (225) | SL v IND, Colombo, 1997 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (200*) | Ijaz Ahmed (211) | PAK v SL, Dhaka, 1999 |
| Marvan Atapttu (249) | Kumar Sangakkara (270) | SL v ZIM, Bulawayo, 2004 |
| Wavell Hinds (213) | Shivnarine Chanderpaul (203*) | WI v SA, Georgetown, 2005 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (287) | Mahela Jayawardene (374) | SL v SA, Colombo, 2006 |
| Neil McKenzie (226) | Graeme Smith (232) | SA v BAN, Chattogram, 2008 |
| Gautam Gambhir (206) | VVS Laxman (200*) | IND v AUS, Delhi, 2008 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (240) | Thilan Samaraweera (231) | SL v PAK, Karachi, 2009 |
| Ricky Ponting (221) | Michael Clarke (210) | AUS v IND, Adelaide, 2012 |
| Marnus Labuschagne (204) | Steve Smith (200*) | AUS v WI, Perth, 2022 |
The day began with Labuschagne already well past his hundred and Smith appearing fluid at the crease. West Indies had little to rejoice after the early wicket of David Warner on day one.
Labuschagne made the bowlers toil alongside Usman Khawaja and later Smith on day one and completed his eighth Test ton at home.
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 1, 2022
Smith and Labuschagne then combined to torment the visitors, sharing a huge 251-run partnership to take Australia past 400 and into declaration zone.
Labuschagne departed soon after his double hundred but Travis Head and Smith scored briskly to push Australia past 500. Head fell one short of a deserved hundred, but Smith got to his double century before Australia declared, giving themselves a good chance to push for that place in the ICC World Test Championship 2023 final.
West Indies openers, debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul and skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, put on a 74-run opening stand to carry the tourists to stumps, but a massive task awaits the Windies on day three.