Australian skipper Steve Smith, who has a talent of breaking records and achieving new milestones at will, crossed the 10,000-run mark in international cricket during the third day of the opening Test between South Africa and Australia. Ahead of the Test series, the Australian skipper had said that his team was looking to avenge it's 1-2 loss to South Africa in November 2016 at home and the right-handed batsman will be hoping to lead from the front to beat the Faf du Plessis-led team in their own backyard. By virtue of this milestone, Smith not only became the 13th Australian player to achieve this feat but also became only the third batsman out of the 80 runs that have scored 10,000 runs or more to have an average of over 50.

Leading the list is India captain Virat Kohli, who has 17,125 runs from 365 innings at an average of 55.60. After him is England captain Joe Root, who has 10,770 runs from 241 innings at an average of 50.80. Steve Smith has 6,151 runs in Tests, 3,431 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 431 in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Australia have a brilliant record away in South Africa and are aiming to build on a magnificent home summer which included a 4-0 Ashes defeat of England.