Steven Smith goes past 3000 Test runs on first day of 5th Ashes Test at The Oval

Steven Smith has scored a fluent half-century to consolidate the solid base provided by Australia’s openers, to have his team get past 200 for the loss of two wickets in the first day of the final Ashes Test at The Oval. He has also gone past 3000 runs in Tests with that landmark. He joined David Warner at the crease when Chris Rogers edged Mark Wood to slips a few overs after lunch, added 51 runs with him, and then 25 with Clarke, in an alliance that was cut short with Clarke’s edging behind. He has taken up the role of the enforcer in his ongoing partnership with Adam Voges. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs Australia, 5th Test, The Oval, Day 1

Smith has scored seven fours in his knock, the one that took him to his fifty a square drive off Ben Stokes to the sweeper cover boundary. He has hit three fours off Steven Finn, two off Stokes and one off off-spinner Moeen Ali. The only six of the Australian innings has been scored by him, as he stepped down the track to deposit Ali to the long-off boundary.

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His 3000-run landmark has arrived in his 63rd innings: he is the joint fourth-fastest to get to 3000 runs, after Don Bradman (33), Neil Harvey (51), and Matthew Hayden (61), and alongside Michael Hussey and Adam Gilchrist, both of whom have taken 63 innings. Smith is also the third youngest to get to the landmark, at 26years and 79 days, four days behind Neil Harvey (26 years 75 days), and two years behind Bradman (24 years 180 days). LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: England vs Australia, 5th Test, The Oval, Day 1

Smith scored a double-century at Lord’s in Australia’s crushing victory, but besides that knock, has not conjured any significant knock, until this one.