Australia’s talismanic batsman Steve Smith is on the cusp of script history in the ongoing fifth and final Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). He would have achieved this milestone on Day 2 had Prasidh Krishna not removed him.
Prasidh Krishna dismissed Steve Smith just five runs short of his 10,000. races on the second day of the ongoing Sydney New Year’s Test. Smith initially handled Krishna well, hitting a big shot for a six and square for a four.
Steve Smith falls short of 10,000 Test runs but reaches 5,000 home run milestone
But then Krishna delivered a magic ball to give India a crucial breakthrough by dismissing the Australian batsman for 33 runs off 57 balls at the SCG. However, the former Australian captain may have missed the milestone of 10,000 Test runs by a few hours but managed to add another feather to his already illustrious record table.
In fact, Smith surpassed 5,000 Test runs for Australia on the second day of the fifth Test against India at the SCG. With 5011 runs in 58 domestic Tests at an average of 60.37 to his name, the right-hander becomes the sixth Australian to reach the milestone of 5000 Test runs at home.
Smith also scored 18 centuries and 19 fifties in Australia, joining legends like Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and David Warner in the 5,000-run club. Namely, Smith is the only one with an average higher than 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 his favorites in Test cricket
Meanwhile, Steve Smith opened up about his top 10 innings and picked his favorite Test century from among those innings as he approaches the historic milestone in the ongoing SCG Test.
Also Read: ‘We Reject Him’: Yograj Singh slams critics and backs Rohit Sharma amid difficulties
Well, Smith has picked his first Test century which happened during the fifth match of the 2013 Ashes series when he scored 138 not out against England as his 10th favorite hundred. His number 9 was 215 at Lords, as Smith said: “I remember not actually sleeping the night before that, literally not a wink. I went out to play and felt good from the start.”
The former Australian captain has chosen his recent Gabba Test hundred against India as his batting number 8, followed by 111 at the WACA against England in 2013 and his immaculate 121 in the 2023 World Cup Test final against India at numbers seven and six.
Steve Smith likes to dominate England in Tests
Smith picked his outstanding innings of 211 at Old Trafford in 2019 as his top five Test innings of his career, saying: “They were just good, solid innings.” The modern Australian great then picked 109 against India in Pune, the fourth, followed by 141* against England at The Gabba in 2017 as his third best Test knock to date.
The batting maestro stated: “The ball was scattered all over the place. It was the first test match of the summer. We were in a bit of a struggle early on from memory to play the way I did. Because I wasn’t out at the end, it was a good innings.” Well, Smith’s second best Test ton was against South Africa in Centurion in 2014, when he scored 100 against a quality attack.
Ultimately, Smith chose his 144-run knock against England at Edgbaston 2019 as his favorite Test innings so far. He signed off by saying, “Yeah, I’ve been out for a year apparently. In England, it was a huge help to the team in that first innings of the Ashes Series.”
What is your favorite Steve Smith Test century?
Smudge ranks his top 10 as he approaches the 10,000 test drive milestone 💯#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/zCvY0E9FfD
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2025
