Steve Smith smokes his maiden Test fifty as opener: Stats
Veteran Australian batter Steve Smith has smoked his maiden Test fifty as an opener. He scored a valiant 146-ball 91* in the recently concluded Day-Night Test against West Indies in Brisbane. As the batter did not get any support from the other end, the Aussies suffered a shocking eight-run defeat. Here we look at his stats.
An important knock from Smith
Smith arrived to bat in the final session of Day 3. He tackled the pink cherry well and returned unbeaten on 33. The veteran batter continued to bat well on Day 4 morning as he stitched an important 71-run stand with Cameron Green. However, Shamar Joseph came in and forced a collapse as the Aussies lost the plot. He claimed seven wickets.
Maiden fifty-plus score as an opener
The ongoing series is Smith's maiden Test assignment as opener. While 12, 11, and 6 were his previous scores in the series, he has now broken the shackles. This was his 41st Test fifty as he has raced to 9,634 runs, averaging 58.03. He also owns 32 tons. Against WI, he has raced to 872 runs, averaging 124.57 (100s: 3, 50s: 4).
19th fifty on home soil, second versus WI
As per ESPNcricinfo, Smith hammered his 19th fifty in Tests at home. He also owns 16 hundreds. In 53 matches, he owns 4,701 runs at 62.68. Versus WI, Smith averages 117.80 at home. He owns 589 runs (100s: 2, 50s: 2).
16,000 international runs for Smith
Earlier in the innings, Smith completed 16,000 international runs. He became just the seventh Aussie batter to accomplish the mark. Notably, Smith took 383 innings of 327 games to accomplish this massive landmark. Smith currently averages 48.54 in international cricket. He has slammed 44 tons and 78 fifties. He now owns 16,069 runs for Australia at 48.54.
How did the game pan out?
Kavem Hodge (71) and Joshua Da Silva (78) consolidated after a collapse as WI posted 311/10 while batting first. Though Australia also suffered a top-order collapse, Usman Khawaja (75), Alex Carey (65), and Pat Cummins (64*) powered them to 289/9d. WI's second innings ended at 193 as Australia had to chase 216. Shamar's 7/8 meant Australia were folded for 207.
