Australian captain Steve Smith ranks among the very best batsmen in the world, and the fidgety customer proved it once again. Without a shade of doubt, the charismatic blonde is one the brightest talents to don the Australian colours. The Gabba saw an example of the same when Smith led by example against England in the first Test of the all-important Ashes series.
Steve Smith showed us signs of extreme maturity on the 22 yards as he smashed his 21st Test century against England. With crucial support from the other side coming in from Shaun Marsh and Pat Cummins Steve Smith played a rock solid knock of 141 runs and stayed unbeaten till the end of the Aussie inning. The stylish right-hander faced a whopping 326 deliveries in the process and justified his position as the number 1 Test batsman in the world.
Smith’s Test average now stands at a staggering 61.23 which is the highest he has reached in his career. Not only that, but it is also the highest by a Test player with 100 innings to his name in the entire history of the gentleman’s game. The skipper played his knock at a strike rate of 43.25 and smashed 14 boundaries in the process.
The legendary Sir Donald Bradman averaged a surreal 99.94 in his Test career, but he took the pitch on 80 occasions. However, Smith’s brilliant knock took Australia to a score of 328 and also handed them a small but valuable lead of 26 runs. Smith’s Test career now stands at 57 matches, 105 innings, 5511 runs, 21 centuries and the highest score of 215 – which completely portrays the dominance of the batsman in the longest format of the game.
The Aussies have the upper hand in the match right now with England losing two wickets cheaply at the start of the second innings. It will be exciting to see if the Steven Smith ton gives Australia a 1-0 lead in the iconic battle.