Steve Smith leads Australia to historic Test series win
What's the story
Steve Smith, who has been leading the Australian cricket team in Pat Cummins's absence, has led his team to a historic 2-0 victory.
Smith's team accomplished the feat during the Test series against Sri Lanka, winning the second match by nine wickets.
This victory was their first Test series win on Sri Lankan soil since 2014, further proving Smith's captaincy.
This also marks Australia's first clean sweep of a series in Asia since 2006.
Match highlights
Australia's bowlers shine in Test series
Australia's bowlers, Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon, played pivotal roles in the victory.
Kuhnemann claimed three wickets in the first innings and four in the second, contributing to Sri Lanka's dismissal for 231 runs.
This gave Australia a paltry target of just 75 runs to win.
Meanwhile, Lyon was also impressive picking up three and four wickets in the first and second innings respectively.
Winning duo
Khawaja and Labuschagne secure Australia's victory
Australia's opening duo, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head led the chase.
Although Head was dismissed after scoring 20 runs off 23 balls, Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne made sure no further losses.
Their partnership guided Australia to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test match of the series.
Record-breaking feats
Smith's historic achievements in Sri Lanka tour
Smith's performance on the Sri Lanka tour was nothing short of historic.
He crossed the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket and became the Australian player with most catches in Test history.
His batting prowess was on full display as he scored centuries in both Tests, taking Australia to a series sweep (2-0) against Sri Lanka.
Additionally, he also Smith became Australia's highest run-scorer in Tests in Asia.
Notably, he also won the Player of the Series award for his performance.
Leadership evolution
Smith's captaincy: A tale of resilience and transformation
Smith's captaincy journey has been marked by resilience and transformation.
Back in 2016, he had suffered a series loss (0-3) against Sri Lanka with modest batting performances.
But by 2025, his leadership skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
Under his captaincy, Australia turned their fortune around by winning the series (2-0) against Sri Lanka.
Records
Smith scripts these records en route his 36th Test ton
As per ESPNcricinfo, Smith now owns the joint-most Test tons among active players alongside England's Joe Root (36 each).
Overall, the duo boast the joint-fifth-most hundreds in the format.
While this was Smith's 17th Test ton as captain, only Ponting (19) has more such scores while leading Australia.
The stand-in Aussie skipper now also owns the joint-third-most Test tons among non-Asian batters in Asia (7).
Numbers
Here are his Test numbers
Playing his 116th Test, Smith has now raced past 10,200 runs at 56-plus.
The series opener saw Smith clock his 35th Test ton in addition to surpassing 10,000 runs. He now owns 36 tons besides 41 fifties.
In seven matches versus Sri Lanka, he has over 640 runs at 60-plus (100s: 4, 50: 1).
As per ESPNcricinfo, Smith owns over 4,800 runs in away Tests.
Match recap
All-round Australia beat SL to complete Test series whitewash
Australia have completed a Test series whitewash against Sri Lanka, beating them by nine wickets in the second and final game in Galle.
Fifties from Kusal Mendis (85*) and Dinesh Chandimal (74) helped SL post 257/10 while batting first.
Lyon and Kuhnemann dismissed three batters each.
Australia posted a brilliant 414/10 in response as Smith (131) and Carey (156) made their bat talk.
Angelo Mathews (76) and Mendis (50) were SL's half-centurions in the third innings as they managed 231/10.