Steve Smith enters elite club with 10,000th Test run

Steve Smith has written his name in the history books as only the fourth Australian to score 10,000 Test runs.

Having famously finished the recent home summer just one run short, Smith reached the milestone with a single to mid-on on day one of the series opener against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday.

The Australian contingent of the crowd stood and applauded as Smith scampered home from the first ball he faced off left-arm off-spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.

Smith smiled at the umpire, and raised his bat, first tentatively and then with clear satisfaction.

Only minutes later, Jayasuriya dropped Smith from his own bowling on one run, with the veteran surviving to hold his place at the crease opposite Usman Khawaja.

Smith (104no) and Khawaja (134no) each went on to score centuries on a dominant first day for Australia (2-330).

Khawaja said it was "really special" to share the milestone with his long-time friend.

"I was at the other end in Sydney too when he got out (caught behind, one run short). I remember, I was ready to sprint through," Khawaja said.

"But he got it here. I was just really happy for him. I gave him a big hug and said, 'You're an absolute legend, you deserve this. You only get 10,000 runs once so enjoy it'."

Smith is only the 15th player to pass 10,000 runs and the fourth Australian behind former Test captains Ricky Ponting (13,378), Allan Border (11,174) and Steve Waugh (10,927).

"I've never really been one for milestones but to tick off 10,000 with those guys would be pretty special," Smith said the day before play began against Sri Lanka.

Ponting appears destined to remain ahead of his countrymen for the foreseeable future with the Tasmanian superstar second on the all-time rankings behind only India's 'Little Master' Sachin Tendulkar (15,921)

Smith is also one of only two active Test players to have scored 10,000 runs, with former England captain Joe Root fifth on the all-time list with 12,972.

Khawaja is the next-most prolific active Australian but has scored barely half as many as Smith with 5,782 at stumps on day one of the series opener in Galle.

Smith has the second-highest average (56.44) of anyone to have reached the milestone, trailing only Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs at 57.40).

Smith would undoubtedly have joined batting's most elite club earlier in his career but for a year-long suspension handed down over his role in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal of 2018.

The 35-year-old has long been coy on his retirement plans but could nevertheless pass Waugh by the end of his career to become the third-most prolific Australia Test run-scorer of all time.

With 10,103 runs by the close of play on Wednesday, Smith had already passed Pakistan middle-order maestro Younis Khan (10,099) into 14th place on rankings for most Test runs.

He could conceivably overtake 13th-placed Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) too by Thursday afternoon.