The bowlers of South Africa and Australia took 14 wickets on the opening day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s. However, Steve Smith played an important knock for the Pat Cummins-led team. Despite the challenging conditions and fall of wickets, Smith kept the scoreboard ticking.
The 36-year-old played a patient knock of 66 runs from 112 deliveries, featuring 10 boundaries. Smith surpassed Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers, and Warren Bardsley.
Smith further solidified his legacy at Lord’s, scripting a new record of the most runs by an overseas batter. He has now accumulated 591 runs in six matches at an average of 59.10, which includes three fifties and two centuries. His highest score at Lord’s is 215.
Most runs by overseas batters at Lord’s
591 – Steve Smith
575 – Warren Bardsley
571 – Sir Garfield Sobers
551 – Sir Donald Bradman
512 – Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Smith also went ahead of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar to move to second on the list of batters with the most fifty-plus scores in knockout matches of the ICC tournaments. The recent score is Smith’s seventh instance of accumulating fifty or more runs in ICC knockout games, surpassing Tendulkar, who managed six scores in 15 matches. In total, Tendulkar posted 682 runs from those matches at an average of 48.71, which included one century and five half-centuries.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli holds the top spot in ICC knockout games, being the only player to have crossed the 1,000-run mark in the high-pressure encounters. Kohli has scored 1,024 runs in 24 innings at an impressive average of 51.20. He has also notched up one century and nine fifties, with his highest score being 117 against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai.