Star Australian batters Steve Smith and David Warner returned to South Africa for the first time since the infamous 2018 sandpaper gate that took place during the third Test in Cape Town. Contrary to the perception, they were not welcomed with a hostile reception as they received in England during the World Cup and the following Ashes series.
There was something here and there from the fans during the first T20I on February 21 but it didn’t attract eyeballs. But Steve Smith managed to attract boos from the crowd at one point thanks to his antics with the bat. Smith struck a dead ball from Dale Steyn for a four and it didn’t go well with the local crowds.
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The incident took place after the fourth ball of the third over in Australia’s innings. Looking to make the most of Dale Steyn’s over, Steve Smith thrashed a ball over mid-on that he managed to reach on the second bounce. The former Australia skipper managed to send the ball over the fence only to see the umpire call it a dead ball as Steyn was adjudged to have released the ball unintentionally.
Watch the video here:
BRAIN FADED MYTH AGAIN
CROWD BOOED HIM AFTER THIS#SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/RZgPsQ87Vw— Omii (@PSLvids) February 21, 2020
Meanwhile, Australia began their tour win a convincing victory by 107 runs at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Batting first, the visitor’s banked skipper Aaron Finch and Steve Smith to get them going before Alex Carey and Ashton Agar finished off on a high posting 196 runs in their quota of 20 overs.
While things looked grim for South Africa at the break, the Proteas made it look worse. They managed to just score 89 runs before getting all-out with Ashton Agar producing a stellar performance scalping five wickets including a hattrick. Former skipper Faf du Plessis tried to be the wrecker-in-chief for his side but lacked partner at the other end as they went 0-1 down in the series.