Steve Smith goes past Bradman, Hayden, Clarke with 30th Test century

Australia went into the Tea break in firm control of the third Test against South Africa. They stood at 394/3 and were looking at posing another big total for the Proteas to chase who are staring at a whitewash.

Usman Khawaja remained unbeaten on 172 runs at the interval alongside Travis Head on 17. The only wicket to fall on the day belonged to Steve Smith who departed after scoring 104 runs. The 33-year-old scored 104 runs from 192 ball which included two sixes and 11 boundaries. But it wasn’t before the former skipper made yet another mark in Australian cricket.

During the second session, Smith slammed his 30th Test century that took him past the legendary Don Bradman, one of the greatest to have played the sport.

Smith reached the milestone with a pull shot after he defended a couple of deliveries from South Africa seamer Anrich Nortje.

His contribution to the stats database wasn’t just limited to the century. Over the course of the inning, he became the fourth highest Test runs scorer for Australia — going past Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden.

Hayden posted 8625 runs from 103 Tests, Clarke accumulated 8643 runs from 115 Tests and Smith progressed to 8647 runs from 92 Tests.

The list is led by Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Allan Border (11,174 runs) and Steve Waugh (10,927 runs) – all of whom played over 150 Test matches for Australia.

Smith departed soon after scoring the century. He was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj, when the batter lobbed a full toss from the lower half of his bat, straight into the bowler’s hands. It was Maharaj’s first wicket of what has been a disappointing series for South Africa.

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