Australian batters including Steve Smith put up a brilliant show with the bat as they went 1-0 up against India in the first ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The visitors fell 66 runs short in the pursuit of 376 runs set by Australia in the series opener.
Batting first, David Warner and Aaron Finch got the hosts off to a superb start as they added 156 runs for the opening wicket. Warner departed for 69 but the Australian skipper carried on and notched up his 17th ODI ton in the process.
Glenn Maxwell was at his best, playing a handy cameo of 45, but it was Steve Smith who stole the show in the series opener. He hardly took time to get going, and once he got his eye in, the former Aussie skipper was absolutely sensational.
Initially, Steve Smith toyed with the field and once he notched up his fifty, he got the big sixes as well, eventually bringing up a superlative century to propel Australia to 375. Steve Smith contributed with 105 runs from 66 balls before Mohammed Shami cleaned him up.
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Chasing a mammoth total, India were in trouble at 101/4 after most of their top order was wiped out by Josh Hazlewood’s short ball. After Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a brilliant start, Australia pull things back to crawl back into the game.
Nice to contribute to the win – Steve Smith
Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya gave India hope in an improbable chase. They put on 146 and caused a bit of a flutter. The injury to Marcus Stoinis made things a bit more interesting as well. But then Adam Zampa put his hand up and bowled a match-winning spell, taking out both Dhawan and Pandya and winning the game for his side.
Speaking at the end of the game, Steve Smith admitted that he has been searching for the touch for a couple of months now. He has struck at the right time and against his favourite opponents. Smith also admitted that he is happy to contribute to the win.
“Have been searching for something for a couple of months now. About three days ago something just clicked. My rhythm came back, everything came back. Finchy and Davey played very well early on. We could come in and be aggressive.
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Wasn’t thinking too much out there, just seeing the ball and hitting it. Was seeing the ball well. It was a good surface. I took a few more risks than I would normally. I targeted some bowlers and fortunately, it came off. Nice to contribute to a good win,” Steve Smith said.
