Steve Smith becomes Australia's third-highest scorer in ODI World Cups
Steve Smith made his presence felt with a well-timed 63*-run knock in match 43 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Saturday in Pune. Smith helped Australia beat Bangladesh, who won their seventh successive match in the ongoing World Cup. Smith, who shared a solid 175*-run stand alongside centurion Mitchell Marsh, has become the third-highest scorer for the Aussies in ODI World Cups.
A solid approach from Smith versus Bangladesh
Smith came to the crease when the Aussies were 132/2 in a chase of 307. He allowed Marsh to maintain the onus of scoring runs and played second fiddle. Marsh made things easy for the Aussies and Smith worked on himself and spent valuable time. He ended up scoring 63* from 64 balls, rotating the strike and finding those gaps.
Smith surpasses Gilchrist, scripts this WC record for Australia
Smith has raced to 1,102 runs from 32 matches (28 innings) in ODI World Cups. He averages a decent 44.08. Smith surpassed Adam Gilchrist, who scored 1,085 WC runs at 36.16 to become Australia's third-highest scorer in the event. Ricky Ponting remains Australia's top scorer (1,743). David Warner, who slammed a fifty versus Bangladesh, is second with 1,491 World Cup runs.
10th World Cup fifty for Smith
Smith smashed his 10th ODI World Cup fifty. He also owns a century. Smith also went past 100 fours in the event (101). Veteran player Smith has also raced to 5,322 runs in 153 games at 43.98. He owns 12 tons and 32 fifties in this format. As per ESPNcricinfo, Smith owns 1,212 runs in Asia. He has 947 runs at neutral venues.
A record stand alongside Marsh
Smith and Marsh recorded an unbeaten 175-run stand for the third wicket. This is the second-highest stand in Australia-Bangladesh ODIs, only behind Warner and Usman Khawaja's 192-run partnership in the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, Smith and Marsh recorded the fifth-highest WC partnership against the Tigers for any side. It's also the second-best stand for the third wicket against Bangladesh in ODI WCs.
