Steve Smith overtakes Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers; beats Sachin Tendulkar but can't touch Virat Kohli's record

When bowlers of Australia and South Africa picked up 14 wickets on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's, Steve Smith stood tall with the bat in hand. It was business as usual for the former Australia captain. The moving ball, the tumbling of wickets at the other end, didn't affect Smith as he put his head down to provide Australia bowlers with a score that they could defend. Australia's Steve Smith celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the World Test Championship final against South Africa(AP)

The 36-year-old scored 66 runs off 112 balls, which included 10 boundaries after coming in to bat at 16 for 2. In the process, Smith went past legends like Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers and Warren Bradsley to set up a memorable record.

Continuing his love affair with the Lord's, Smith became the overseas batter with the most runs at the iconic venue. Smith now has 591 runs in the six matches in which he has featured in 10 innings at the Lord's. The right-hand batter has an average of 59.10 at Lord's with the help of three fifties and two hundreds. His highest score at Home of Cricket is 215.

When Smith came out to bat on Wednesday, he was fourth on the list of highest run-scorers at Lord's (among overseas batters). By the time he was dismissed, he rose to the top of the list, overtaking Australia's Warren Bardsley (575 runs in 5 matches), West Indies' Garfield Sobers (571 runs in 5 matches), and Australia's Don Bradman (551 runs in 4 matches).

Most runs by overseas batters at Lord's

Warren Bardsley (575)

Sir Garfield Sobers (571)

Sir Donald Bradman (551)

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (512)

Dilip Vengsarkar (508)

Allan Border (503)

Smith goes past Sachin Tendulkar

During the match, Steve Smith also overtook legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, climbing up to the second spot among batters with the highest number of fifty-plus scores in ICC tournament knockout matches.

This was Smith's seventh fifty-plus score in ICC event knockout matches, overtaking Tendulkar, who had six such scores in 15 matches, scoring 682 runs at an average of 48.71 with a century and five fifties.

India's Virat Kohli remains the undisputed king of ICC knockout matches, being the only player to have made 1,000 runs in such matches. He has made 1,024 runs in 22 matches and 24 innings at an average of 51.20, with a century and nine fifties (a total of 10 fifty-plus scores) and best score of 117 against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semifinal at Mumbai.

Australia lost opener Usman Khawaja and new No.3 Cameron Green to the new ball. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head did not last long either as Australia were reduced to 67/4 after South Africa captain Temba Bavuma opted to bowl. Smith then found an able partner in young all-rounder Beu Webster. They added 79 runs for the fifth wicket before Smith uncharacteristically nicked off an Aiden Markram delivery.

Speaking after the day's play, Smith humorously admitted to an error in judgment that cost him his wicket.

"Don't nick the part-time off-spinner. Down the slope. I'm still trying to fathom how I've done that. But yeah, don't do that," Smith said, referring to his dismissal to Markram.

Reflecting on the pitch and the evolving nature of the game, Smith added, "Just play what's in front of us. It might take a bit more spin as the game wears on. It's pretty dry. I don't know, the seam might go down as the game goes on as well, potentially. So, I think the bounce is going to be variable throughout the game, as we've seen already on day one."

Smith and Webster's gritty half-centuries took Australia to 212 after being invited to bat. Kagiso Rabada breathed fire with the ball, picking up 5 for 51. He ran through Australia's lower middle order after Alex Carey was dismissed. Marco Jansebn also picked up three wickets.

Australia, however, gave a strong reply with the ball. Mitchell Starc (2/10), Josh Hazlewood (1/10) and Pat Cummins (1/14) reduced South Africa to 43/4 at Stumps on Day 1, trailing Australia by 169 runs with captain Tema Bavuma and David Belingham at the crease.

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