Top 5 Memorable Steve Smith Innings In Test Cricket

Steve Smith. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read, hear or watch the former Australian captain? Run-machine? Unorthodox? Batting juggernaut? An all-time legend? Decent leg-spinner, maybe? Mentally very tough?

Well! Steve Smith is an amalgamation of all these facts and perhaps a lot more. Having started his career as a leg-spinner back in 2010, Smith has gone on to become one of the greatest batsmen Test cricket has ever seen and his success story is a glaring testimony to the fact that you can achieve almost anything that you want, provided that you have the hunger and desire to pursue it religiously.

Steve Smith is celebrating his 31st birthday today, and so we thought, why not celebrate his special day by reminiscing some of his masterclasses from the past.

Here’s a look at top-5 Test innings of Steve Smith in his career thus far-

Also Read: Steve Smith Turns 31: A Look At His Lesser Known Facts

199 vs West Indies, Jamaica 2015

On a difficult track at Kingston Jamacia, the West Indian fast bowlers in Jerome Taylor [6-47] was threatening to rip apart the Australian batting when Steve Smith decided to take matters into his own hands.

Smith arrived at the crease within the first over of the game and the Australian innings folded just six balls after he was dismissed. On a wicket that had uneven bounce, Smith showed great temperament and went on to become only the third Australian to be dismissed on 199.

But, Smith had done his job as he led Australia to an eventual match-winning total of 399.

192 vs India, Melbourne 2014

The 2014 Boxing Day is remembered for a plethora of reasons which includes a brilliant partnership between India’s two centurions in Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, Virat’s tussle with Mitchell Johnson and of-course MS Dhoni’s shock retirement in its immediate aftermath.

But before all of this, Steve Smith churned out yet another masterly knock with his bat when he flayed the Indian bowling attack to the tune of 192 in the first innings. After the early dismissal of David Warner, Smith once again became the anchor of the Australian innings. The right-hander batted for a total of 433 minutes and with able contributions from the likes of Chris Rogers [57], Shane Watson [52], Brad Haddin [55] and Ryan Harris [74] helped the home side post 530 in their first innings.

211 vs England, Old Trafford 2019

Imagine, you’re coming off a 12-month ban. You’re coping a lot of heat from the home crowd. It’s the Ashes for god sake. You are the premier batsman of your side. You score a match-winning hundred upon your return to Test cricket and then you’re struck by a vicious blow on your head.

You’re forced to miss the next Test. To make matters worse, your team has lost that game from a winning position. The pressure is right back on you. So, what do you do? Well! If you’re Steve Smith, you go out there, irritate the bowlers with your weird stance and defense and then milk them for a masterly double-hundred.

This is exactly what Steve Smith did last year at Old Trafford. The right-handed batsman looked impenetrable (except for the instance when he was caught off Jack Leach’s no-ball), as he went on to rack up yet another match-winning hundred [this time a double-hundred] for the Aussies to help them post an eventual match-winning and Ashes regaining total of 8-497.

109 vs India, Pune, 2017

Can Steve Smith succeed on the Indian turning tracks? This was the question that was on every critics’ mind when the Australians toured India for a 4-match Test series in 2017.

And, Smith didn’t take more than 2 innings to shrug off all those inhibitions about his technique on turning tracks. On a spitting cobra masquerading as a Test match pitch in Pune, Steve Smith showed why he is rated as one of the greatest Test batsman of all times as he thwarted the famed Indian spin attack with his patience, resilience, character and of-course prodigious skills.

The right-hander went on to score 109 in the second innings and to put the greatness of that knock in context, Indian batting couldn’t manage more than 107 in both of their innings as Australia scripted a famous 333-run-win.

144 & 142 vs England, Edgbaston 2019

Steve Smith had come into the Ashes after having served a 12-month ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal. Everyone had their reservations as to how Smith would encounter the hostility of both the English conditions and its crowd.

And, to make matters worse, Smith found himself in the center when Australia was undergoing a collapse for the ages. Within no time, the visitors had been reduced from 4-105 to 8-122. But, as they say, adversity tends to bring out a beast in a champion

And, it did. The former Australian captain went on to score around 50 percent of his teams runs [144] and courtesy an 88-run-stand with Peter Siddle lifted his team to a competitive total of 284.

But Smith wasn’t done yet. With England taking a 90-run-lead and Australia getting reduced to 3-70 in the second innings, Smith put on yet another masterclass. His 142 off 207 balls helped the visitors post 7-487 and notch up a 251-run-win.