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Rate this knock higher as I didn’t give India chances to dismiss me: Steve Smith
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 11/30/2020 11:36:52 AM
Sydney, Nov 29: Australia batsman Steve Smith smashed his second consecutive ton against India in Sydney on Sunday and was once again the Man of the Match for his performance. The batsman followed his Friday’s 62-ball 100 with another identical ton and was eventually dismissed for 104 against India on Sunday. This was Smith’s 11th ton in ODI cricket. On Sunday, just like he did two days ago, he hit the Indian bowlers at will. No Indian bowler was able to trouble him when he was on song. This time, unlike on Friday, he did not take much time to settle down. With Aaron Finch and David Warner once again providing a great platform for Australia to get going with a 140-run partnership at the top, Smith was in his groove almost immediately. He got to his fifty in 38 balls and after that hit boundaries at ease. He eventually went on to hit 104 runs off 64 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes. When asked which knock he would rate higher, he said that it had to be the one on Sunday. “On Friday, I gave away a few chances to India. There was the drop catch (Shikhar Dhawan on the boundary) and the LBW (decision overturned by DRS), but today I did not give India any chance to dismiss myself and I just felt good from ball one. I was able to get myself in and go hard,” Steve Smith said in the post-match interview. The batsman once again lauded Australian openers David Warner and Aaron Finch for give their team a great platform to go all out. “Another great foundation set by Finchy and Davey. Let me go hard at the back end. The last two games, the boys have got us off to terrific starts.” Smith also admitted that during IPL 2020, he was trying to go hard at every ball and that was not necessarily working out for him. “We know India have a good batting line-up so we needed big totals. I tried to whack the ball too hard in the IPL but I've started hitting it with more finesse I should say, which is working for me.”