Australian batting stalwart Steve Smith was left in a state of shock when he was dismissed by South Africa's Aiden Markram during the opening day of the World Test Championship 2025 (WTC) Final at Lord's. Smith previously weathered the storm by countering the thunderbolts from Jansen and Rabada and escorted Australia from a tricky situation after lunch. 

With the game drifting away from them, South Africa made a forced change and brought Aiden Markram on in a bid to help Wiaan Mulder swap ends. With only three Test wickets before the dismissal, Markram hardly posed a threat to the in-form Steve Smith, who had already reached his fifty. But then, something unexpected happened that not only shocked the viewers but also Smith himself. 

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Smith in disbelief after being dismissed by the part-time spinner

During the last ball of the 42nd over, Smith was looking to switch through the gears and received a floated delivery from Markram. He wanted to cash in as the ball seemed to be well within his hitting range and was an ideal length for him to play the drive. But tragedy struck as he was deceived by the flight and the trajectory of the ball. His flashy drive resulted in a thick outside edge, and Jansen juggled the ball at first slip and eventually clung on to it after several attempts. 

Following his dismissal, Smith spoke about his shocking dismissal at the end of the day's play. Upon deep reflection, the 36-year-old commented that very seldom do batters nick the part-time spinners in to be able to do something like in a crunch game was simply beyond belief. 

"You don't nick the part-time off-spinner. I'm still trying to fathom how I've done that".

Steven Smith said, "you don't nick the part time off spinner. I'm still trying to fathom how I've done that". pic.twitter.com/DwAT3IwvSA

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 12, 2025

Contrary to the way he was dismissed, Smith stood tall, and his resilient stand with Beau Webster helped Australia set push South Africa on the back foot. Smith emerged as the second-highest run scorer for Australia, adding 66 (112), whereas Webster scored the major chunk of the runs, adding a valiant 72 (92). 

Australia's innings ended at 212, but their bowlers struck back late in the day to leave South Africa reeling at 43-4 at the call of stumps on Day 1.