Aakash Chopra showers praises on Steve Smith for his second straight ton in ODI against India

The Indian cricket team was up against Australia in a do-or-die One Day game at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The hosts were deemed as the favourites to win the game and they did the same by winning the contest by 51 runs as former Australian skipper Steve Smith again presented a spectacular show with his willow.

The toss went Aaron Finch’s way and he decided to bat first. The hosts repeated their batting effort of the first ODI. The duo of skipper Finch and David Warner stitched a remarkable opening stand of 142-run in 22.5 overs. While Warner scored 83 runs off 77 deliveries, Finch added 60 runs to the scoreboard in 69 balls.

Just like the previous game, Mohammed Shami gave the much-needed first breakthrough to India by taking the priced wicket of the opposition skipper. Finch was soon followed by Warner in the dressing room as the latter lost his wicket after getting run-out by Shreyas Iyer. However, Steve Smith didn’t let the momentum shift from his side even after losing the wickets in succession as he stitched a 100 runs+ partnership with Marnus Labuschagne.

Steve Smith smashes a stunning century

The former captain smashed another breathtaking century as the Indian bowlers looked out of the rhythm and failed to find the perfect length. With the help of 14 boundaries and 2 maximums, Smith scored 104 runs in just 64 deliveries. However, he lost his wicket while playing a shot on the delivery of Hardik Pandya.

Smith formed the backbone of Australia’s batting line-up and his fine performance resulted in the team putting up a humongous total on the board. Showering praises on Smith for his remarkable innings, the former Indian opening batsman Aakash Chopra tweeted, “Nothing to add”

After taking Smith’s wicket, India expected the innings to slow down and was looking to restrict the hosts to a relatively low total. However, Glenn Maxwell ensured that he applied the required finishing touch to the innings. Both Labuschagne and Maxwell smashed half-centuries to take the team’s total to 389. Chasing the massive target, Kohli’s sublime innings of 89 runs remained significant but fell way short ahead of the gigantic target.