Ian Chappell unhappy with Steve Smith for undermining Tim Paine against Pakistan

Australia completed their systematic annihilation of Pakistan when they bowled the visitors out for 239 to wrap up the Pink ball Adelaide Test within four days after Tim Paine’s men notched up a comprehensive win by an innings and 48 runs. Pakistan did put some fight on the fourth day with Shan Masood (68) and Asad Shafiq (57) racking up their respective half-centuries.

The duo accumulated a 103-run-stand while Mohammad Rizwan (45) and Iftikhar Ahmed (27) also showed some resistance. But, ultimately, it wasn’t enough to force Australia to bat again as Nathan Lyon spearheaded their bowling effort with a five-for.

Naturally, with such a dominant win and 120 championship points in the bag, it was all smiles in the Australian camp. However, former Australian skipper Ian Chappell isn’t happy with Steven Smith. The cricketer-turned-commentator, accused Smith of white-anting (Australia’s colloquial term for undermining) and claimed that the former captain was undermining regular captain Tim Paine by changing the field placements made by the skipper on the fourth day of the Adelaide Test.

“I tell you what I don’t like to see, Steve Smith is moving a few fieldsmen around. He did have a chat with Tim Paine, trying to talk Tim Paine into moving a fielder on the off-side, but I’m not sure Tim Paine moved him as far as Steve Smith wanted. Steve Smith started moving him, I hate to see that. England used to do it a bit, blokes other than the captain and I always felt it was white-anting the captain,” Chappell told Macquarie Sports Radio as quoted by Fox Sports.

Records galore for Tim Paine and Co

Meanwhile, talking about Australia’s win in Adelaide, it was a perfect Test match for the home side. David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne pummelled the much-talked-about Pakistan pace attack. While Labuschagne notched up back-to-back hundreds, Warner went one step ahead and racked up his maiden triple-century; one that saw him break a plethora of records. 

Warner went on to register the second-highest individual score by an Australian, leapfrogging the likes of Michael Clarke, Mark Taylor, and Sir Donald Bradman. Matthew Hayden’s 380 and Brian Lara’s all-time record of 400 was also threatening to be overhauled before Tim Paine decided to declare the innings with the southpaw still in the middle at 335.

Australia will now lock horns with New Zealand in a three-Test series, the first of which will be played at the Perth Stadium with the pink ball.