New Delhi: 

Steve Smith once again stepped up for Australia under pressure and played a classy knock to bail his team out of trouble in their first innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final against South Africa at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Wednesday. Smith scored a fluent 66 off 112 balls, laced with 10 fours, to help Australia post a fighting total of 211 runs on the board after a sluggish start.

Most fifty-plus scores in ICC knockout matches:

Virat Kohli – 10

Steve Smith – 7

Sachin Tendulkar – 6

Steve Smith claims record for most Test runs by a visiting batter at Lord’s

With his brilliant 66-run knock, Smith also went past former Australia batter Warren Bardsley and overtook some of the legends of the game like Don Bradman and Garfield Sobers to claim the record for the most runs by a visiting batter in Test matches at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. Smith has 591 runs in six Test matches at Lord’s at an excellent average of 59.10, including two centuries and 3 fifties.

Smith also surpassed Australia legend Allan Border to set a new record for the most fifty-plus scores by a visiting batter in Test matches in England. Smith now has 18 fifty-plus scores in Tests in England, one more than Border, who recorded 17 fifty-plus scores in Test matches in England.

Smith’s 66, along with all-rounder Beau Webster’s terrific knock of 72 runs off 92 balls, helped Australia post 211 runs on the board in their first innings in the WTC final against South Africa. In reply, the Aussie pacers reduced the Proteas to 43/4 in just 22 overs at stumps on Day 1. South Africa were on top at the end of Australia’s first innings, but the Aussies took control by the end of the day with their bowlers dominating the proceedings.

With his gritty half-century, Smith broke the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most fifty-plus scores in the knockout matches of major ICC tournaments. His 66-run knock against the Proteas in the WTC final on Wednesday was his seventh fifty-plus score in ICC knockout matches as he overtook Tendulkar, who scored six fifty-plus scores in knockout matches of ICC events in his career.

Tendulkar scored 682 runs in 15 matches for India in knockout matches of major ICC events across formats, including a solitary century and five fifties. Smith has so far scored 650 runs in 13 matches in ICC knockouts at an average of 59.09 with two centuries and five fifties, taking his overall fifty-plus scores tally to seven.

Team India star Virat Kohli remains the undisputed leader when it comes to batters with the most fifty-plus scores in the knockout matches of ICC events. Kohli has one century and nine fifties (10 fifty-plus) scores in ICC knockout matches and is the only batter with more than 1,000 runs in them. The Indian batting maestro has 1,024 runs in 22 matches and 24 innings at an average of 51.20 in ICC knockouts.

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