Follow UsSteve Smith has long been acknowledged as one of the greatest Test batters in history, but the Australia stand-in skipper also has a very good CV in ODI cricket. An average over 43 is not exactly a hallmark of a ‘great’ player, but Smith has developed a reputation for coming clutch at the right time in knockout games.
Well, today against India in Dubai, in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, the 35-year-old achieved an extremely rare feat managed by only one other batter in history - the great Sachin Tendulkar.
That’s right. After scoring fifty today, Smith became only the second batter in history, after Sachin, to have scored five fifty-plus scores in ICC knockout matches. Incredibly, Smith has managed to do this in just seven innings.
Sachin Tendulkar - 6 in 14 innings
Steve Smith - 5 in 7 innings
The only two instances where Smith did not pass 50 in an ICC knockout game (in 50-over cricket) were the semis and the final of the 2023 50-over World Cup. Even then, in the semis against South Africa, he posted an invaluable 30 that helped the Aussies get over the line in a low-scoring match in Kolkata.
65 vs Pakistan in Adelaide, 2015 WC (QF)
105 vs India in Sydney, 2015 WC (SF)
56* vs New Zealand in Melbourne, 2015 WC (F)
85 vs England in Birmingham, 2019 (SF)
30 vs South Africa in Kolkata, 2023 WC (SF)
4 vs India in Ahmedabad, 2023 WC (F)
62* vs India in Dubai, 2025 CT (SF)