Steve Smith was a delighted man as Australia completed a thumping 275-run victory over England under his captaincy in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Monday (December 20).
Chasing 468 to win in the fourth innings, the visitors were reeling at 82/4 at the close of play on Day 4. While Jos Buttler (26 off 207 balls) and Chris Woakes (44 off 97 balls) showed some resistance with the bat on the final day, England eventually got bowled out for a 192 to concede a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series.
“I wasn't nervous. I think Jos played very well, and played over 200 balls, so it was good resistance along with Woakes and Robbo. We wanted to stay calm because it would take a couple of good balls and a couple of wickets to get the win. I did enjoy captaincy and the guys played well and controlled the game after the first day,” Smith, who led the side in Pat Cummins’ absence, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Smith, who himself scored 93 in the first innings, hailed David Warner (95) and Marnus Labuschagne (103) for setting up the win while the stand-in captain reserved special praise for speedster Mitchell Starc, who returned with six wickets in the game.
“Davey and Marnus's partnership set it up, so we could control the game. A special mention to Starc, who has bowled as well as he's bowled in a long time, and he's led the attack really well. I think he summed it up quickly that it wasn't swinging and he was just hitting a good length and attacking the batsmen,” he added.
Steve Smith also advised opener Marcus Harris to not overthink about his low scores and trust the process. The southpaw has registered scores of 3, 9*, 3 and 23 from the two Tests so far.
“Harris is batting well in the nets, so he needs to not overthink it and trust the process and he can turn it around.”
Smith is pleased that the Australian team managed to entertain people with their stunning display amid the difficult OCVID-19 period.
“The COVID protocols are level 4 or 3 right now, and we've been able to entertain with cricket in a difficult period. We'll go about our business as well as we can,” he concluded.
The third Test will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26.
(With Cricbuzz inputs)
