Steve Smith leapfrogged Steve Waugh to become Australia’s third highest Test run scorer

Steve Smith surpassed Steve Waugh to become Australia’s third highest run-scorer in Test cricket during the first day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.Batting at No. 4, Smith scored 25 off 53 balls and hit two sixes before his innings ended. He needed eight runs to get past Waugh’s total of 10,927 and reached the milestone with a six off Keshav Maharaj in the 19th over as he scored five runs off his first 27 balls.Smith now has 10,945 runs from 224 innings in 126 Tests. Waugh scored 10,927 runs in 260 innings in 168 Tests during his 19-year career in Australia.Only Ricky Ponting and Allan Border are ahead of Smith on Australia’s list of leading Test run-scorers. Ponting ended his career with 13,378 runs in 168 Tests, while Border scored 11,174 runs in 156 matches.Smith, who has led Australia in the past, is now 55 runs away from becoming the third Australian to reach 11,000 Test runs. He needs to score at least 230 runs in the ongoing three-match series to overtake Border and move into second place on the list.Meanwhile, Australia’s decision to pick Nic Maddinson as opener didn’t work out, but Matt Renshaw’s move to the middle order paid dividends on the opening day of the series. The visitors finished the first day on 187/6 in Durban.South Africa are the world Test champions after defeating Australia in the 2025 final. It is Australia’s first trip to the country since the “Sandpapergate” scandal in 2018.