DUBAI: Australia’s premier batter Steve Smith impressed in yet another knockout match, scoring a fine half-century against India during the semifinal of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy at Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
During the clash against India, Smith scored 73 in 96 balls, with four boundaries and a six. He was taking on a world-class Indian attack with a strike rate of 76.04. He perished to a fine delivery from Mohammed Shami which castled his stumps.
In ICC Knockout matches, Smith has a fine record: 65 against Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal at Adelaide, 105 vs India in the semifinals at Sydney, 56* vs New Zealand in the final at Melbourne. He continued his fine run with a brilliant 85 in the 2019 World Cup semifinal against arch-rivals England, before his consistency took a dent with scores of 30 and 4 during the World Cup 2023 semifinal and final against South Africa and India respectively.
Now, with his 73 against India, Smith has 418 runs in ICC ODI knockouts at an average of 69.66 in seven innings, with a century and four half-centuries and the best score of 105*.
Smith also overtook Michael Clarke, becoming Australia’s fifth-highest international run-getter, with 17,165 runs in 353 matches and 415 innings at an average of 47.81, with 48 centuries and 81 fifties and the best score of 239.
In 394 international games, Clarke scored 17,112 runs at an average of 45.26, with 36 centuries and 86 fifties and the best score of 329*.
The top-run-getter for Australia is Ricky Ponting, with 27,368 runs in 559 matches and 667 innings at an average of 45.84, with 70 centuries and 146 fifties. His best score is 257.
Coming to the match, Australia is 213/6 after 40 overs, with 10 to go, with Alex Carey (44*) and Ben Dwarshuis (3*) unbeaten. Travis Head (39* in 33 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) gave Aussies a fine headstart after the quick dismissal of Cooper Connolly and half-century stands between Smith and Marnus Labuschagne (29 in 36 balls, with two fours and a six) and Smith and Alex Carey pushed Aussies beyond the 200-run mark.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy. (ANI)
