Steve Smith just vaulted past Steve Waugh to lock down his spot as Australia’s third-highest Test run-scorer ever! This insane milestone went down on day one of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban, and it’s a huge moment for Australian cricket history.
The Legend He Just Left Behind
Smith, batting at number four, absolutely etched his name deeper into the record books. He scored 25 runs off 53 balls, hammering two monster sixes before his innings wrapped up. What’s wild is he only needed eight runs to pass Waugh’s massive tally of 10,927. He hit that historic mark with a six off Keshav Maharaj in the 19th over. Think about it: he scored five runs from his first 27 balls, then just flicked a switch and sent one flying for the record. Smith now sits at 10,945 runs from 224 innings across 126 Tests. To put that in perspective, Waugh racked up his 10,927 runs in 260 innings over 168 Tests during his 19-year career. Smith is doing this with serious efficiency.
Chasing More All-Time Greats
Right now, only Ricky Ponting and Allan Border are ahead of Smith on Australia’s all-time list. Ponting finished his career with 13,378 runs in 168 Tests, and Border notched 11,174 runs in 156 matches. Smith, who’s even captained Australia in the past, is now just 55 runs shy of becoming only the third Australian to hit the 11,000 Test run mark. And get this: he needs to score at least 230 runs across this three-match series to overtake Border and slide into second place overall. That’s a huge target, but if anyone can do it, it’s Smith.
Day 1 Drama in Durban
The rest of Day 1 in Durban was a mixed bag for Australia. The call to pick Nic Maddinson as an opener? Yeah, that didn’t exactly pan out. But Matt Renshaw’s move to the middle order definitely paid off. The visitors finished Day 1 with 187/6. This series is already spicy, especially since South Africa are the world Test champions after beating Australia in the 2025 final. Plus, this is Australia’s first time back in South Africa since the infamous 2018 ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal. Talk about some serious tension heading into the rest of the series!
What’s next for Smith? We’re all watching to see if he can keep this run going, push past 11,000, and really start putting pressure on Border’s spot. This series just got a whole lot more interesting!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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