Galle [Sri Lanka], January 29 (ANI): Australia stand-in skipper Steve Smith completed 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game during the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday. The right-hand batter became only the 15th player to achieve this landmark in Test cricket, as per the ICC official website.
Missing the chance to reach the mark in his home city of Sydney during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, Smith brought up the five-figure milestone in Australia’s first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, playing his signature flick toward mid-on, setting off for one before raising his bat to acknowledge the applause.
The moment was marked by an ovation from the Australian group.
Smith moved the score to 137/2 with the run, continuing Australia’s strong start after the tourists won the toss and elected to bat.
The 35-year-old has compiled his runs at an average of over 55, with Kumar Sangakkara the only batter beyond the 10,000 figure with a better return (57.40). He became the fifth fastest batter by innings to reach 10,000 Test runs.
The batter joins Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting as the fourth Australian to reach the mark.
Earlier in the day, Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first in the clash against Sri Lanka.
Right-hand batter Josh Inglis is set to make his debut in the longest format of the game as the Baggy Greens named him in the playing XI for the first match of the series. Both the teams are going with three spinners and one seaming option in their line-up for this match.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando. (ANI)
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