3. Graeme Smith – 345 Matches, 17,224 Runs, Avg: 42.63
Statistically, Smith is the greatest South African opener of all-time. Graeme was a quality batsman but he will be more so remembered for his legacy in captaincy, which took South Africa to great heights from a chaotic phase. Twin Test series wins Down under, crushing World No.1 Test team at their home and good performances in sub-continent shores and reaching 2007 World Cup Semi-final are some of his finest achievements. Talking about his batting, at 22, the left-hander smashed consecutive double hundreds and a tally of 714 runs on 2003 English tour to announce himself on the big stage.
The former South African opener featured in 117 Tests, collecting 9,265 runs at 48.25 with 27 hundreds. Biff was part of 197 ODIs where he managed 6,989 runs at 37.98. Smith also played 33 T20Is, scoring 982 runs at 31.67 with a strike-rate of 127.53.
