Steven Smith breaks this record of Steve Waugh: Key stats
What's the story
Australia maintained their dominance over England in the second session on Day 2 of the 2nd Ashes Test (Day/Night) at the Adelaide Oval. Middle-order batter Steven Smith led the charge with a 93-run knock. Although Smith missed out on his 28th Test century, he overtook Steve Waugh in terms of runs as captain. Smith is leading Australia in Adelaide in place of Pat Cummins.
Feats
Smith eclipses Steve Waugh on this tally
Smith now has 3,752 runs from 35 Tests at an incredible average of 70.79 as captain. He has the fifth-highest runs among Australian captains, after Allan Border (6,623), Ricky Ponting (6,542), Greg Chappell (4,209), and Michael Clarke (3,946). Smith overtook the legendary Steve Waugh on this tally, who racked up 3,714 Test runs while leading the Aussies.
Feat
Smith requires one ton to overtake these legends
Smith fell short of his 16th Test ton as captain. He could have surpassed Border and Waugh, both of whom slammed 15 tons while leading Australia. One of the greatest captains, Ponting, leads this tally among Australians. He registered 19 hundreds in Test cricket as captain. Overall, the top two on this list are Graeme Smith (25) and Virat Kohli (20).
Information
Smith could have broken a tie with Virat Kohli
Smith could have slammed his 28th ton in Test cricket. He requires one century to break a tie with Indian captain Kohli, who presently has 27 centuries. Smith can also equal legends Hashim Amla and Michael Clarke in terms of Test tons (28 each).
Runs
Smith gets past 7,600 Test runs
In the first innings, Smith completed 7,600 runs in Test cricket, the eighth Australian to reach this mark. He now has 7,645 Test runs from 79 Tests. Smith surpassed England's Colin Cowdrey (7,624) in terms of Test runs. The former averages 61.65 in Test cricket, the second-best in the format after Sir Donald Bradman (players with more than 25 Tests).