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Steve Smith achieved a new milestone as the most successful overseas batter at Lord’s cricket ground during day one of the World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa, despite being dismissed for 66 runs by part-time spinner Aiden Markram after helping Australia recover from early trouble to post 212 all out. Smith’s innings proved crucial in stabilizing Australia after they were reduced to 4-67, forming a 79-run partnership with Beau Webster for the fifth wicket. During his knock, Smith surpassed Don Bradman’s tally of 551 runs and Warren Bardsley’s record of 575 runs at Lord’s, which had stood for nearly a century. South Africa’s decision to bowl first under gloomy conditions proved effective as their pace attack, led by Kagiso Rabada, created significant problems for Australia’s top order.
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“I felt in a nice place, I love batting here at Lord’s,” Smith said. “I enjoyed my time out there while I was out there (but) left a few in the shed unfortunately.” Smith expressed bewilderment at his dismissal to Markram’s off-spin. “Don’t nick the part-time off-spinner. Down the slope. I’m still trying to fathom how I’ve done that,” he said.
Speaking about the pitch conditions, Smith provided detailed insights. “I feel day one here it always offers a little bit of something, even when the colour of the wicket was quite white. I’ve seen one-day wickets that we’ve played on here where it’s been similar and it’s actually seamed quite a bit, particularly with the newer ball. So I always feel like it offers something, particularly early on in the game. As the grass dies down, I think it’s going to offer less.“ Kagiso Rabada continued his impressive record at Lord’s, claiming his second five-wicket haul at the venue. His performance helped him surpass Morne Morkel’s record of 15 wickets to become South Africa’s most successful bowler at Lord’s with 18 wickets.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player? Rabada also moved past Allan Donald’s career Test wicket tally of 330, climbing to fourth place on South Africa’s all-time list with 332 wickets. Reflecting on the day’s play, Rabada shared his observations about the conditions. “The ball was nipping quite a bit and at times moving off the slope a lot. But I still felt like batters could get in. If you just bowled well and got more balls in the right area for a long period of time, then that’s when you could create chances.” Smith remained optimistic about Australia’s position in the match. “Hopefully we can get a few early wickets in the morning, go through them and have a bit of a lead – that’s the ideal scenario for us right now,” he said. The match represents a significant opportunity for both teams in the World Test Championship final, with Australia looking to defend their position as the number one ranked Test side and South Africa aiming to capitalize on their strong bowling performance.
