Refounding his great rhythm with an outstanding hundred in Australia's win in the first ODI, Steve Smith on Friday (November 27) thanked openers David Warner and Aaron Finch for laying a solid foundation to the innings which then helped him attack the Indian bowling and regain his flow.
Finch (114) and Warner (69) put on 156 runs for the first wicket before Warner got dismissed and Finch controlled the middle phase along with Smith. After the two openers' departure, Smith (105) just took the responsibility upon himself and allowed the hosts to take the game away from the visitors with an insurmountable score of 374/6.
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"I just found a nice rhythm again," Smith told reporters at the post-match press conference, as quoted by PTI. "It was just see-ball, hit-ball and obviously the foundation had been set so I could be quite aggressive."
Having said he has found his "hands" in the lead-up to the series, Smith relished a different kind of pressure with the bat through his magnificent 66-ball knock.
"It was just see-ball, hit-ball and obviously the foundation had been set so I could be quite aggressive."
"There wasn’t a whole lot of pressure. Probably, at other times, when I have batted my best, it’s been when the team has been under a bit of pressure and I have had to play almost an anchor role to help us get a total."
Smith looked off rhythm throughout the IPL 2020 in UAE where leading Rajasthan Royals (RR) he perhaps felt the pressure to try and overperform, focusing on hitting from ball one instead of settling into his innings.
“I haven’t felt quite right for a while and maybe that’s T20 cricket, trying to be a bit more powerful and probably not playing as much to my strengths as I’d like."
During his net sessions, Smith said he was intent on getting his normal grip back and once he screamed a drive through the left of mid-off in one such stint, he knew from that moment on he has refound the lost mojo.
"It might sound really funny but it just sort of clicked into place the other day and I was able drive the ball where I wanted to," Smith said.
"I could beat mid-off on the left side and I wasn’t slicing the ball as much as I was in the IPL for a little while."
“It was nice to hit a few in the middle, and spend a bit of time out there and hopefully it holds me in good stead for the rest of the summer," he signed off.
(Inputs from PTI)
