Steve Smith produced his 32nd Test hundred in the ongoing second Test match of Ashes 2023 at Lord's on Thursday, June 29. Smith's remarkable century helped Australia post 416 runs in their first innings on Day 2 as England took five wickets in the first session to keep the game balanced.
Smith, playing in his 99th Test match, scored unbeaten 85 runs on Day 1 and seemed in a good rhythm on Day 2 as completed his century by smashing two back-to-back fours off James Anderson. He joined legendary Australian skipper Steve Waugh's tally of 32 Test centuries and is now only behind Ricky Ponting to become Australia's leading cricketer with the most Test hundreds.
In another big record, Smith surpassed the current Indian captain Rohit Sharma to record the fourth-highest international hundreds among active cricketers. This is Smith's 44th international hundred (32 in Tests and 12 in ODIs) while Rohit has recorded 43 International hundreds so far.
Rohit's last international hundred came against Australia during the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 while Smith has already registered three centuries this year. Smith is now only one hundred behind David Warner while India's Virat Kohli comfortably dominates the chart for most international centuries among active cricketers.
Most international 100s among active cricketers:
1. Virat Kohli - 75
2. Joe Root - 46
3. David Warner - 45
4. Steve Smith - 44
5. Rohit Shamra - 43
6. Kane Williamson - 41
Coming into the game, Josh Tongue dismissed Steve Smith with Ben Duckett taking a brilliant catch in the gully. Smith scored 110 off 184 with the help of 15 fours to record his 12th hundred against England. Skipper Pat Cummins scored unbeaten 22 runs but English pacers made a strong comeback to bowl out Australia's first innings on 416 runs in 100.4 overs.
