Australia talisman Steve Smith is on the verge of scripting history in the ongoing fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against India at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). He would have achieved this milestone on day 2 Prasidh Krishna it did not remove him.
Steve Smith was dismissed just five runs shy of his 10,000th run by Prashid Krishna on Day 2 of the ongoing New Year’s in Sydney. Smith had initially handled Krishna well, hitting a big pull shot for six and a square drive for four.
Steve Smith falls short of 10,000 Tests but reaches 5,000 home run milestone
But then Krishna delivered a magic ball to give India a crucial breakthrough by dismissing the Australian batting maestro for 33 runs off 57 balls at the SCG. However, the former Australian skipper may have missed the 10,000-Test milestone by a few hours, but he managed to add another feather to his already illustrious record table.
In fact, Smith crossed the 5,000 Test mark for Australia on Day 2 of the fifth Test against India at the SCG. With 5,011 runs in 58 Tests at home at an average of 60.37 to his name, the right-handed batsman becomes the sixth Australian to reach the 5,000-Test milestone at home.
Smith has also scored 18 centuries and 19 fifties in Australia, joining legends like Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and David Warner to the 5,000-run club. Notably, Smith is the only one with an average over 60.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith is set to become the 15th player in Test history to score 10,000 or more runs in the format if he can get past the five-run mark in the ongoing SCG Test against India. He will also become only the fourth Australian to do so after Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Waugh.
Steve Smith ranks his Top-10 centuries and picks a favorite in Test cricket
Meanwhile, Steve Smith talks about his top 10 innings and picks his favorite Test century from those innings as he approaches the historic milestone in the ongoing SCG Test.
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Well, Smith picked up his maiden Test century which came during the fifth match of the 2013 Ashes series when he scored 138 not out against England as his 10th favorite hundred. His score of 9 was 215 at Lord’s, as Smith said: “I remember actually not sleeping the night before that, literally not a wink. I came out to play and felt good from the start.”
The former Australian skipper picked his recent Gabba Test hundred against India as the number eight to bat, followed by his 111 at the WACA against England in 2013 and his immaculate 121 in the 2023 World Test Championship final against India at number seven and six.
Steve Smith loves to dominate England in Tests
Smith picked his remarkable innings of 211 at Old Trafford in 2019 as his five best innings of his Test career, saying: “It was just a good, solid innings.” The modern Australian great then picked up 109 against India in Pune, the fourth, and followed that up with 141* against England at The Gabba in 2017 as his third best Test so far.
The batsman’s maestro said: “The ball was ragged all over. It was the first test match of the summer. We were in a bit of a fight early on from memory to play the way I did. Because I wasn’t out at the end, there were good innings.” Well, Smith’s second best Test ton was against South Africa at Centurion in 2014 when he scored 100 in a good quality attack.
Ultimately, Smith chose his 144-run knock against England at Edgbaston in 2019 as his favorite Test innings so far. He signed off saying: “Yeah, I was out for a year apparently. To help the team in those first matches of the Ashes Series was huge in England.”
Who is your favorite Steve Smith test century?
Smudge ranks his top 10 as he approaches the 10,000 test milestone 💯#AUsmallvINhey pIdo.twIttmr.dothem/zdovY0m9eateathey
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2025
2025-01-04 18:07:00
