Steve Smith achieved a record-breaking milestone by becoming the highest-scoring visiting batsman at the World Test Championship Finals yesterday at Lord's.
The 2025 WTC Final between Australia and South Africa commenced yesterday, June 11, at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
The Aussie cricket legend composed an innings of 66 runs, taking his Lord's all-time total 591, surpassing the previous record held by Australia's Warren Bardsley (575). Smith also overtook cricket legends Sir Garfield Sobers (571) and Sir Donald Bradman (551) in the list of top-scoring overseas players at Lord's.
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After the day's play, Smith reflected positively on his performance at a press conference.
“It felt good. I found a nice pace and I love batting here at Lord’s. I enjoyed my time out there while I was out there," he said.
Australia's early setback
Despite Smith’s milestone, the day wasn’t without its challenges for Australia.
Australia had a bumpy start with Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, and Travis Head all losing key wickets.
Kagiso Rabada terrorised the Australians, taking 5/51, while he also surpassed Allan Donald on South Africa's all-time Test wicket-takers list.
While asked about his reflection on Australia’s position after an eventful first day, Smith believes they are still in a good spot.
“We probably had a few missed opportunities with the bat to get a bigger total, but I think the wicket offered something all day, as we’ve seen," he said.
"We’re 169 in front and they're four down.
"Could have been a better day, but we’re still in a nice position.”
The one mistake
Despite his record-breaking milestone today, Smith unexpectedly lost a wicket to part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram.
When asked what he learnt from this experience, he replied with an awkward laugh.
“Don’t nick the part-time off-spinner,” he said, putting his head in his hands.
“Down the slope, I’m still trying to fathom how I’ve done that. But yeah, don’t do that.
“And then, nah, I don’t know, just play what’s in front of us.
"And hopefully we can get a few early ones in the morning and go through them and have a bit of a lead. That’s the ideal scenario for us right now.”