Steve Smith continued his love affair with The Oval ground in London as he notched up another fifty-plus score here, in the first innings of the ongoing 5th and final Ashes 2023 Test. However, the right-hander was dismissed for 71, failing to reach a three-figure score.
His knock of 71 runs on Day 2 of the ongoing Test helped him attain a new record for any visiting batsman at this ground, moreover, surpassing the previous record holder Don Bradman.
Steve Smith is hailed, by many, as the greatest Test batsman since Don Bradman. And now his rising to the top of this tally of most Test runs by a visiting batsman at The Oval ground, breaking Bradman’s record, further strengthened that adage.
Visiting batters with most Test runs at The Oval:
617 – Steve Smith (Australia)
553 – Sir Don Bradman (Australia)
478 – Allan Border (Australia)
448 – Bruce Mitchell (South Africa)
443 – Rahul Dravid (India)
At the Oval, Steve Smith now has 617 runs in 8 innings at an average of 88 with 3 centuries and 2 fifties. He hit a century in the WTC 2023 Final against India earlier this June at this venue.
Even as Smith has gone past Bradman’s runs tally at The Oval, it is necessary to mention that Bradman scored his 553 runs in only 4 innings at a bumper average of 138, with scores of 232 and 244, along with a 77.
Interestingly, while Bradman had immense success in his first three knocks at The Oval, in his 4th knock here, he was dismissed for a duck in what was his last career Test match, in 1948. That duck meant that Bradman’s Test batting average finished at 99.94, just short of a perfect 100.
Steve Smith 71 helps Australia take a small lead
Steve Smith finished as his side’s top scorer with 71 runs and was the 8th man to be dismissed. Plenty of other Aussie batters got starts – 4 batters got over 20 – but none of them reached fifty.
Late hits by Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy helped Australia get to 295, finishing with a slender lead of 12 runs, making this Test match now effectively a last innings shootout with 3 days left in the game.
