Ashes: Steve Smith surpasses Bradman's milestone; trails only Tendulkar and Kohli in elite list

Ashes 2025-26: Having missed out on the 4th Test of the Ashes 2025-26 due to nausea and dizziness, Australia's batting general Steve Smith has made an extraordinary return in the fifth and final Test of the series in Sydney.With a delightful stroke play and wrist work that oozes class, Smith scored a scintillating century on Tuesday, Day 3 of the fifth Ashes Test. It was Smith's 37th Test ton. He went unbeaten at 129* and in the process, breached the age-old record set by the great Donald Bradman.Smith surpasses Don Bradman in the 5th Ashes Test Smith superseded Bradman's figure of 5028 runs to become the player with the most international runs against England. His sheer consistency has taken him to fourth in the list of players with the most international runs against a single opponent. Smith is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in the list.Both the Indian batting legends have scored tons of runs in all forms of cricket, but when it came to picking the favourite opponent to score against, both seldom gave respite to Australia. Kohli is number two in the list with 5551 runs against the Aussies. Whereas Sachin is leading the tally with an enormous figure of 6707 runs against Australia. The greatness of Tendulkar is further personified by the fact that he has taken the third spot in the list as well. This time, the opponent is Sri Lanka. The little master scored 5108 runs against the Lankans in his illustrious career.Players with most runs vs a single opponent Sachin Tendulkar vs Australia- 6707 runsVirat Kohli vs Australia- 5551* runsSachin Tendulkar- 5108 runsSteve Smith vs England- 5085* runsDon Bradman vs England- 5028 runs Head-Smith tons put England on the back foot in the 5th Ashes TestAfter earning a consolation victory in the fourth Test of the series, Australia have once again attained the driver's seat in the series.Batting first, England put on a respectable 384 on the board, on the back of a brilliant century by Joe Root and a blistering knock of 84 by Harry Brook. In reply, the hosts took the attack to the visitors, and once again it was Travis Head, who emerged as the chief architect. Head smashed his third century of the series and contributed 166 to the board. Smith kept the momentum going, which was built by Head. The right-handed batter scored his 37th Test ton and steered Australia past the 500-run mark. Australia finished Day 3 at 518/7, leading by 134 runs. Smith remained unbeaten at 129* at the stumps and will look to take England completely out of the game on Day 4 at the SCG.