’ SCARY’ SMITH IS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
TWO of Steve Smith’s teammates have the same ominous word to describe the sort of form the batting genius is in after two 61- ball centuries against India.
Glenn Maxwell and Marnus Labuschagne shared time at the crease with Smith in the opening two ODIs and said it was “scary” how well the 31year- old, who was also man of the match twice, was batting.
Smith hit the summer openers after an Indian Premier League he was “disappointed” with despite scoring 311 runs, with three 50s, for the Rajasthan Royals, the third- best output for his team.
But after declaring he had “found his hands” in the days leading up to the opening ODI against India, Smith has been unstoppable.
He has plundered 209 runs off just 130 balls, with 25 fours and six sixes, and, according to protege Labuschagne, hardly been troubled doing it by the much- vaunted Indian attack.
“That was one of the best innings I have seen in one- day cricket, not only from Steve, from anyone,” said Labuschagne, who shared a 136- run partnership with Smith on Sunday.
“The way he batted was superb. It almost felt like he didn’t really given an opportunity. He didn’t take any risks, but he got a hundred off 60odd balls. That’s scary.
“It was really nice to build that partnership with him, it was nice to keep ticking it over. We were really busy, then Steve really took the game on.
“That’s two very big scores in the last two games thanks to Steve.”
The power hitting has been a departure from Smith’s normally calculated way of batting. He even said he tried too hard to hit the ball in the IPL, which “wasn’t my way of doing things”.
But Maxwell, who has scored 108 runs off just 48 balls himself across the two matches, said Smith had managed to blend the two styles in a way no one ever doubted.
“We knew he had it in him,” Maxwell said. “As he said the other day, he found his hands, and it’s looking pretty scary for other teams.
“A lot of the time you judge him by how he starts his innings. He’s hitting the middle of the bat straight away.”