London [UK], June 11 : Australian batting icon Steve Smith overtook legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, climbing up to the second spot among batters with the highest number of fifty-plus scores in ICC tournament knockout matches.
Smith continues solidifying his legacy as the ultimate clutch batter for Australia, with yet another half-century against the Proteas during the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's. Walking in with Australia at 16/2, Smith's fluency was on showcase as he scored 66 in 112 balls, with 10 fours. His runs came at a strike rate of 58.92.
This is Smith's seventh fifty-plus score in ICC event knockout matches, overtaking Tendulkar, who had six such scores in 15 matches, scoring 682 runs at an average of 48.71 with a century and five fifties.
Smith loses out to Tendulkar in volume of runs, scoring 650 runs in 13 matches and innings at an average of 59.09, with two centuries and nine fifties. His best score is 121.
India's Virat Kohli remains the undisputed king of ICC knockout matches, being the only player to have made 1,000 runs in such matches. He has made 1,024 runs in 22 matches and 24 innings at an average of 51.20, with a century and nine fifties (a total of 10 fifty-plus scores) and best score of 117 against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semifinal at Mumbai.
Coming to the match, SA won the toss and opted to bat first, reducing Australia to 67/4 at the end of the first session. However, fifties from Smith (66) and Beau Webster (55*) took Australia to 190/6 at the end of the second session, with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen being standout bowlers with two wickets each.