Top 5 knocks of Steve Smith in 2021

Australian cricket is famous for its legacy of developing world-class cricketers. Right from the beginning of cricket, when fans list the best batters, there would be an Australian in every time frame of the sport. Hence, they have a rich legacy of the sport.

Steve Smith is continuing the conquest in this era. He is considered to be the modern legend of Test cricket. Smith entered into the team in 2010 as a leg spinner and interestingly changed his path as a batter and has succeeded in it beyond imagination.

Smudge deliberately rose to the heights and became the captain of the mighty Australian side. He is focally known for his Test batting, but also has good numbers in the other formats and is a regular member of the Aussie side in all formats. This year, Smith has played some terrific knocks as usual. Here are the top five of those:

1. 131 vs India 

The start of the year 2021 for Steve Smith was sensational. India’s tour of Australia was ongoing with the second Test being completed. And 2021 started off with the third Test match to be played with the four-match series being balanced at 1-1.

Smith was in a poor patch of runs in the series with recurring single-digit scores in the four innings. He came back to form in Sydney, as soon as the calendar year changed as he went to bat at number four and settled in the crease for a long time.

After 14-innings of century drought, he scored his 27th century in the first innings of the match and equaled another current legend Virat Kohli’s century records. Unfortunately, he got out at 131 runs after surviving 226 deliveries. Still, the bowlers couldn’t trouble him as he was run out by Ravindra Jadeja.

2. 93 vs England

Ashes 2021-22 kickstarted in December in Australia. The expectations on the key-player Smith was huge as he was the highest run-getter (774) of the team and was also the Man of the Series in Ashes in 2019.

The 32-year-old was dismissed for 12 runs in the first Test. He got the opportunity after a long period to lead the Test team again in the second match of the Ashes. He came back to the captaincy role with style after hitting his 32nd half-century.

Smith couldn’t convert it into  a century and fell LBW against James Anderson at 93. However, it was a memorable knock to come back for the team as a captain and score runs against the arch-nemesis.

3. 35 vs South Africa

Smith came back to the team after an injury and made it to the T20 world cup squad this year. Though he is not a renowned T20 cricket player like Tests, he is a type of batter who can play an anchor role in the team. The inaugural Super-12 match of the T20 world cup was scheduled between Australia and South Africa.

After the Aussie bowlers restricted the team to a low score of 118, it was then the role of the batters to take forward to the triumph. But unfortunately, sudden wickets fell and the Australian team was 20/2 in 4.3 overs when Smith stepped into the crease.

He played a sensible inning by keeping the one end still even if the other batters failed to partner. He steadily increased the score and got out for 35 off 34 deliveries and he was the highest scorer of Australia. His stable knock aided their team in the victory.

4. 81 vs India

In the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India, Smith came back to form after several innings and scored his century, and got out for 131.

He did not stop his good momentum in the first inning itself and he continued to be their key batter. After a quick departure of the openers, Smith and Marnus Labuschagne steadied the ship for a 103 run partnership off 224 deliveries.

After the dismissal of Labuschagne, Smith stayed on the 22-yards and contributed the team a run of 81 out of 167 balls, which included eight boundaries and a sixer. He was dismissed by LBW off Ravi Ashwin. Smith was then awarded the Player of the Match for his 212 run contribution in both the innings combined.

1. 55 vs India

This was the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and it was held at the most famous Gabba in Brisbane. It was the decider as the series was at level 1-1. After Australia elected to bat, Smith got out for 36 runs in the first innings.

Australia had to pose a target to the Indian side in the second innings, and he came into bat after the dismissals of the openers and gradually built the innings.

He scored a swift fifty and got out by gloving the ball to the gully fielder agaisnt Mohammad Siraj’s bowling at 55 in 74 deliveries. Smith was their highest run-getter in the inning and it was ended in vain after other batters failed to stick around.