Ashes 2023, ENGvAUS: Steve Smith Joins 9000-Run Club, Becomes Second Fastest To Reach Milestone

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Australia run-machine Steve Smith on Wednesday (June 28) joined the 9000-run club in Test cricket and became the second fastest to reach the milestone after Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara.

Smith, who was on 8969 runs, achieved the feat during the second session of day 1 of the second Ashes 2023 Test against England at the Home of Cricket - Lord's Cricket Ground in London. He became the seventeent player to reach the milestone.

The 34-year-old reached the landmark in 174 innings, two more than Sangakkara's 172, but was the quickest to reach the 9000-run mark in terms of number of matches as he went past the figure in his 99th Test.

While Smith was two innings shy of Sangakkara's record, the Australian surpassed some greats of the game in Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar to become the second quickest to the feat. Here is a look at the top 10.

Fastest to 9000 Test runs

Smith, who has scored 37 half centuries and 31 tons at an average of 56.61, closed in on his 32nd Test hundred and remained unbeaten on 85 to take Australia to 339/5 at stumps on day 1 at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The 34-year-old was the 17th overall to reach 9000 runs and the fourth Australian to reach the landmark. He is now only behind the likes of Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh in terms of most runs in Test cricket by an Australian.

Most Test Runs For Australia