SL vs AUS | Steve Smith dominates day one in second Test, banks rare feat among active Test batters

Sri Lanka and Australia are battling out in the second match of a two-match Test series in the Island nation. Australia dominated the first day of the match after a convincing win in the previous match. 

Australia won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked like a more or less flat track. The Aussie batters had a decent outing on the first day as they ended with a decent total of 298 runs for the loss of five wickets in 90 overs. 

The highlight of the day was Steve Smith (109* off 212) and Marnus Labuschagne (104 off 156) notching up centuries for their team. 

Smith on Day One against the Lankans broke his jinx as he scored his first hundred in 18 months and after a leap of 16 Test outings. This was the 28th century in Test cricket for Steve Smith. 

As Smith reached the hundred he moved to the third spot in a unique stat list in the longest format of the game. 

Smith now sits at the third spot if  50 to 100 conversion rate is considered among the active Test players. 

Let us take a look at the list of the players.

1. Virat Kohli: The Indian superstar has played a total of 102 Tests for his country. In these Tests, Kohli has 55, fifty-plus scores to his name.

Kohli has converted his fifties to a hundred 27 times. This takes his conversion rate in the longest format of the game to 49.09 %. This is the highest among the players who are playing Test cricket actively at present. 

2. Dhananjaya De Silva: The Sri Lankan middle-order batter has 18 fifty-plus scores to his name in Test cricket. He has scored a century eight out of these 18 times.

De Silva’s conversion rate stands at 44.44% in the longest format of the game. This is the second-highest among active Test players.

3. Steve Smith: Steve Smith has gone past fifty 64 times in Test cricket. Out of these 64 knocks, Smith has scored a century 28 times now.

Smith’s conversion rate now stands at 43.75%. This makes him the player with the third-highest conversion rate among the currently active Test players. 

The players following Smith in this unique list are Mominul Haque with a conversion rate of 42.31 and Kane Williamson with a conversion rate of 42.11%. 

If the all-time record is considered, the list is topped by the great Sir Donald Bradman. Bradman had a conversion rate of 69.05%. Which just like his Test average of 99.94 appears invincible.