Steve Smith's place as one of the greatest batters of all time in Test cricket has never been in doubt but the opposite can be said about his place in the Australian T20I side. The former Australia captain's tendency to score at a lower strike-rate has always led to his place coming under the scanner whenever the team suffer a failure but he seems to be determined to show his value as a power-hitting opener in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League (BBL).
Smith smashed consecutive centuries in his last two games and while he couldn't make it a hat-trick on Monday against the Hobart Hurricanes, he smashed a 22-ball fifty and was dismissed on 66 off 33 balls. His innings included six sixes and four fours and a number of almost bizarre highlights, including one delivery off which 16 runs came and a monster hit that ended up on the roof of the Bellerive Oval.
Smith didn't take too long to get going. He first sent Joel Paris over square leg off the third ball of the first over, which was the fourth ball he faced overall in the match. The umpire called that no-ball as Paris overstepped and the next delivery was a free hit. However, that went well wide of the leg stump and to the boundary, resulting in five runs being awarded to the Sixers. Smith then hit a four off the next ball which was finally deemed a legitimate delivery, thus making it 16 runs off that one legal ball.
{{/usCountry}}Smith didn't take too long to get going. He first sent Joel Paris over square leg off the third ball of the first over, which was the fourth ball he faced overall in the match. The umpire called that no-ball as Paris overstepped and the next delivery was a free hit. However, that went well wide of the leg stump and to the boundary, resulting in five runs being awarded to the Sixers. Smith then hit a four off the next ball which was finally deemed a legitimate delivery, thus making it 16 runs off that one legal ball.
{{/usCountry}}Such was Smith's form that he got the Sixers to 54/0 in five overs, smashing 40 off 17 balls himself while his opening partner Josh Philippe had scored just eight off 14 balls. Smith then sent Tim David to the roof of the stadium off the third ball of the seventh over with a slog sweep and then hit a four off the next delivery to get to his half century in 22 balls.