Australian batting legend Steve Smith has surpassed the iconic Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, moving up to the second position among batters with the most fifty-plus scores in ICC tournament knockout matches. Smith is further cementing his reputation as Australia’s premier clutch batter, having achieved yet another half-century against the Proteas during the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s. Coming in with Australia at 16/2, Smith displayed remarkable fluency, scoring 66 runs off 112 balls, including 10 fours. His runs were accumulated at a strike rate of 58.92. This marks Smith’s seventh fifty-plus score in ICC event knockout matches, surpassing Tendulkar, who recorded six such scores in 15 matches, amassing 682 runs at an average of 48.71, which includes one century and five fifties. In terms of total runs, Smith falls short of Tendulkar, having scored 650 runs in 13 matches and innings at an impressive average of 59.09, which features two centuries and nine fifties. His highest score stands at 121.
