Former Australian skipper and middle-order batsman Steve Smith hit his 30th test century on the second day of the 3rd test match in Sydney. With this century, Smith has now surpassed the legendary Don Bradman, who had 29 test centuries to his name. Steve Smith’s 30th test ton has undoubtedly put him on the list of one of Australia’s greatest-ever test batters. Smith put a mammoth 209-run partnership with Usman Khawaja to put his team in the driver’s seat.
Smith brought up his 30th test ton with a ferocious pull of Anrich Nortje. He was eventually dismissed for a well-made 104 from 194 balls by Keshav Maharaj. Smith was very close to surpassing the legend in the previous test at Melbourne where he was dismissed for 85. Smith is playing his 92nd test match and boasts an impressive average of 60.89 in the format.
Only 2 other Aussie legends have more centuries in test matches than Steve Smith. Ricky Ponting tops the list with 41 tons followed by Steve Waugh’s 32. He currently stands joint third with Matthew Hayden in the list of Australian players with the most test centuries.
En route to his magnificent record-breaking century, Smith also overtook Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke in test runs. Smith has compiled 8,647 runs in test cricket while Hayden and Clarke had 8,625 and 8,643 runs to their tally respectively.