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Steve Smith Only Trails Ricky Ponting In Elite List; Attains Huge Australian Record

Steve Smith celebrating a wicket with teammates on Day 3 (x.com)Steve Smith celebrating a wicket with teammates on Day 3 (x.com)

Steve Smith’s newfound woes with the bat continued against New Zealand as he was cleaned up for a duck by Tim Southee in the second Australian innings at Wellington. Regardless, the cricketer managed to attain a historic feat for Australia, albeit as a fielder, after he plucked out a couple of sensational catches to dismiss New Zealand top-order batters Will Young and Kane Williamson.

With his twin stunners at slip, Smith has now soared past former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh to bag the second-highest number of catches for his country after ex-skipper Ricky Ponting.

Steve Smith closes in on Ricky Ponting for huge record

Steve Smith, stationed at leg slip, took a sharp catch to assist Nathan Lyon in curtailing Kane Williamson’s threatening stay at the crease for Australia. Roughly an hour later in the game, Smith held on to a one-handed stunner at slip to dismiss well-set New Zealand opener Will Young.

Smith’s fielding brilliance on Day 3 against New Zealand extended his Test tally to 182 catches, thus taking him past Mark Waugh’s collection of 181 catches. As of now, the 34-year-old cricketer is only lagging behind all-time great Ricky Ponting (196 catches) in terms of number of catches taken by a non-wicketkeeping Australian.

After Steve Smith’s stunners, here is a look at an updated list of Australia’s top five players with the most catches in Test cricket:

  • Ricky Ponting - 196 catches
  • Steve Smith - 182 catches
  • Mark Waugh - 181 catches
  • Mark Taylor - 157 catches
  • Allan Border - 156 catches

Earlier in the match, Steve Smith managed to score just 31 before Cameron Green’s belligerent 174* took Australia to a commanding 383. The visitors ended up securing a 204-run first innings lead off the back of Nathan Lyon’s scintillating four-wicket haul.

Smith’s struggles as an opener continued to haunt Australia further as he was castled for a duck at the brink of stumps on Day 2. Middle-order contributions from Lyon, Green, and Travis Head eventually set up a 369-run target for the New Zealanders.

The ‘Black Caps’ will now resume their second innings at 111-3 on Day 4, with half-centurion Rachin Ravindra and all-rounder Daryl Mitchell still batting at the crease.