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Ranking the top five innings of Steve Smith’s historical Test career so far
Lachlan Geleit • January 29th, 2025 8:55 am
Australian cricket great Steve Smith is set to enter the record books this week as he enters Wednesday’s first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on 9,999 Test runs.
A lone run in the first innings would make Smith the fourth Aussie to reach the milestone after Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh. He’ll also become the 15th player overall to reach the mark.
With history beckoning for the superstar No.4 and Australia’s stand-in Test skipper, we’ve taken a look back over Smith’s career to pick out the best handful of innings.
So far, Smith has made 34 centuries and an additional 41 fifties and these knocks are the top five from the 204 times he’s walked out to bat in Test cricket.
We’ve ranked them five to one, with number one the best innings of his career.
5 – 141 n.o v England @ Brisbane, 2017
Walking out to bat at 2/30, Smith and Australia would find themselves at 4/76 in reply to England’s first innings score of 302 in the first Test of the 2017/18 Ashes.
In a grinding innings that took 326 balls, Smith helped Australia to 328 before they ultimately would win by 10 wickets.
4 – 109 v India @ Pune, 2017
Smith has made three away tons against India, with all three of them coming in 2017, but this one stands above the rest.
On a rank turner, the superstar reached figures while none of his teammates could even pass 31. The knock led Australia to their first win in India in 13 years.
3 – 100 v South Africa @ Centurion, 2014
Smith’s fourth Test ton was a special one, batting at No.6 he strode to the crease at 4/98 against an all-time South African attack.
He’d go on to reach his ton alongside Shaun Marsh, the duo putting on a huge 200+ run partnership that set the Aussies up for a 281-run victory. The Aussies went on to win the three-match series 2-1 and reclaim world No.1 status for the first time since 2008.
2 – 211 v England @ Old Trafford, 2019
After missing the third Test with concussion as Australia went down in devastating fashion in Leeds, Smith returned in Manchester with a huge first innings double ton.
The Aussies would go on to win on Day 5 to go up 2-1 and ensure the Ashes weren’t leaving their hands. Just another knock in perhaps the best individual series of all time.
1 – 144 v England @ Edgbaston, 2019
In his first game back from suspension, in the first innings of the first Ashes Test. There wasn’t a bigger occasion for Smith in his career, and he met the moment.
Entering on Day 1 at 2/17, Smith was booed by the Birmingham crowd but battled through the innings as Australia’s only real hope. At one stage the side was 8-122 with Smith on just 42 not out. Luckily, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon hung around, allowing Smith to go ballistic at the other end as the Aussies reached 284.
He’d ton up again in the second innings with 142 as the Aussies won by 251 runs before ultimately retaining the urn away from home.
The first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Galle kicks off today (Wednesday). Listen to The New Ball with Tom Morris and Bharat Sundaresan from 2pm before SEN Cricket's live coverage from 3pm AEDT.
