Steve Smith scored 59 and 27 in the third Test vs Pakistan.© AFP
Australia batter Steve Smith on Thursday set the record for fastest to reach 8,000 test runs, one innings faster than Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara. Smith reached the milestone during Australia’s second innings of the ongoing third Test against Pakistan in Lahore. Sangakkara took 152 innings to reach the milestone, while Smith got there in his 151st. In terms of games, the Australian batter was much faster, with 85 games compared to Sangakkara’s 91.
Legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar took 154 hits to reach the milestone.
A new world record for Steve Smith!
The fastest player ever to 8,000 test runs #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/xmC7iSM7uN
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 24, 2022
In the match, Smith recorded scores of 59 and 27 while Australia set Pakistan a target of 351 to win in the series decider.
Half centuries of Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green and Alex Carey along with Smith’s helped the visitors to the 391 in their first innings. Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah took four wickets each.
Pakistan looked good in their first essay then, but Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc staged a stunning collapse that caused them to fold for 268. Cummins claimed five wicket, while Starc took four.
promoted
Khawaja, who made 91 in the first innings, scored his second century of the series when he finished unbeaten at 104 in Australia’s second outing with the bat, while David Warner hit a fine 51 when the visitors declared at 227/3, setting the Pakistan 351 to win.
In return, Pakistan reached 73/0 on Stumps on Day 4, taking 278 more runs to win. Imam-ul-Haq hits at 42, while Abdullah Shafique is at 27.
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