Durban [South Africa], October 9 (ANI): Australian batter Steve Smith surpassed former captain Steve Waugh to become the country’s third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket during Day 1 of the opening Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban.
Smith entered the match needing eight runs to move past Waugh’s career tally of 10,927 runs. He reached the milestone in the 19th over by hitting South African spinner Keshav Maharaj for a six on the last delivery of the 19th over. Smith was later dismissed for 25 off 53 balls.
With the achievement, Smith moved to 10,945 Test runs, placing him behind only Ricky Ponting and Allan Border on Australia’s all-time list.
Smith’s 10,945 runs have come in 224 innings across 126 Tests, while Waugh finished with 10,927 runs from 260 innings in 168 Tests.
Ponting leads the chart with 13,378 runs from 168 Tests, followed by Border with 11,174 runs from 156 matches.
Smith surpassed Waugh’s total in 42 fewer Tests, further adding to his record in the longest format.
Smith now stands 229 runs short of overtaking Border for second place on Australia’s Test run-scoring list. With two Tests remaining in the series, he has an opportunity to close the gap during the tour.
Coming to Day 1 of the opening Test of the series between South Africa and Australia, the Temba Bavuma-led side restricted Pat Cummins-led Australia to 187/6 in 65.2 overs before bad light forced an early close on Day 1. Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen struck early, while Anrich Nortje dismissed Alex Carey and Beau Webster in the same over to leave Australia struggling at 124/6.
Marnus Labuschagne scored 37, and Steve Smith made 25. Matt Renshaw (46 not out) and Pat Cummins (33 not out) then added an unbeaten 63-run partnership for the seventh wicket to steady Australia’s innings. (ANI)
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