Steve Smith added another milestone to his Test career on Sunday, overtaking England’s Joe Root to become the most successful fielder in Test cricket history during the first Test between South Africa and Australia at Kingsmead in Durban.Smith reached the landmark on Day 3 when he caught David Bedingham off Pat Cummins’ bowling. Batting on 49, Bedingham edged a hard, back-of-a-length delivery towards first slip. Smith dived to his left to complete the catch, dismissing the South African batter just one run short of his half-century.The catch took Smith’s tally to 221 in Test cricket, moving him past Root’s previous record of 220. Rahul Dravid is third on the all-time list with 210 catches, followed by Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene with 205 and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis with 200. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting rounds off the top six with 196 catches.Most catches as a fielder in Tests
- 221* – Steven Smith
- 220 – Joe Root
- 210 – Rahul Dravid
- 205 – M Jayawardene
- 200 – Jacques Kallis
- 196 – Ricky Ponting
Smith’s performance in the field came after a modest outing with the bat in Australia’s first innings. The right-hander scored 25 off 53 balls, including two sixes, after coming in following an early setback for the visitors. He added 60 runs with Marnus Labuschagne to help steady the innings after Australia lost early wickets.However, Marco Jansen dismissed Smith shortly after lunch on Day 1. Bowling from around the wicket, Jansen delivered a back-of-a-length ball that straightened after pitching. Smith expected it to come into him but was squared up and edged the ball towards gully, where Wiaan Mulder took a low catch.Smith’s dismissal left Australia in trouble, but Matt Renshaw’s 190 helped the visitors recover from 124/6 to post 390.South Africa were 162/5 when this story was written.
