Haren
After starting his innings with a milestone single that took him to 10,000 Test runs, Steve Smith registered his 35th Test century for Australia on day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday.
Walking in at number four, Smith cruised to a breezy century after putting on a hefty partnership with opener Usman Khawaja. Smith’s 35th Test century in only his 205th innings put him third on the all-time charts, only behind Ricky Ponting (195) and Sachin Tendulkar (200) in terms of innings.
Overall, Smith is only the seventh Test batter to reach 35 Test centuries after Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), Ponting (41), Kumar Sangakkara (38), Rahul Dravid (36) and Joe Root (36).
Standing in as skipper in place of the injured Pat Cummins, Smith’s ton was also his 16th as an Australian captain, surpassing the likes of Steve Waugh and Allan Border’s tally of 15 centuries. Among Australian captains, only Ponting (19) has struck more centuries. Overall, Smith ranks fourth among Test captains with South Africa’s Graeme Smith (25) and India’s Virat Kohli (20) leading the charts.
Closing in on 4000 Test runs as captain, Smith’s average stands north of 68. It is only bettered by the legendary Don Bradman who averaged over 101 among captains who recorded at least 3000 Test runs.
Earlier in the day, Smith became the 15th batter to reach the 10,000-run milestone in Test cricket. Smith is the fourth Aussie batter after Border, Waugh and Ponting to reach the feat and ranks the fifth-fastest in terms of innings, behind Tendulkar (195), Brian Lara (195), Sangakkara (195) and Ponting (196).
