Twitter Reactions: Steve Smith smothers India to his ninth ODI ton in Bengaluru

Steve Smith was in awe-inspiring form in 2019 in Test and T20I cricket, scoring runs in heaps. The 30-year-old has now carried forward his touch in the ODI format as well. Smith is currently in India for the three-match ODI series and he has shown his class and caliber. In the second match at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot, he fell short of a century after Kuldeep Yadav found his inside-edge on 98.

But he didn’t let the pressure get to him in the third ODI at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Smith came to bat after Australia lost the early wicket of David Warner to Mohammed Shami. Thereafter, he was involved in a shambolic mix-up with skipper Aaron Finch that led to the latter’s run-out. The leather was moving around a wee bit and the onus was again on Smith.

Steve Smith shows his class

Smith was joined by Marnus Labuschagne for the third wicket. The duo steadied the ship and got the Aussies out of jail. The pair, who has scored tons of runs for the national team in the last 12 months, added 127 runs for the third wicket. It was the same stand that put on a useful 96 runs in Rajkot, though it came in a losing cause. Smith was fluent in his knock and got to his fifty off 63 balls.

Smith lost Labuschagne as his partner when Ravindra Jadeja got rid of the latter. However, Smith didn’t allow the situation to ruffle him. Rather, he carried on with the good work, realizing that Australia needed him to stay in the middle. He got an able partner in Alex Carey, who smacked six fours to score 35 runs off 36 balls before Kuldeep Yadav got rid of him. Smith was then on 98.

He had to wait for a while before he scored the remaining two runs. Ashton Turner played out the entire 43rd over, scoring only a single. In the third ball of the next over from Navdeep Saini, Smith accomplished his ninth ODI century off 117 balls. He ran one down to the third man region and set off for a single. He didn’t celebrate much as he knew that his job wasn’t completed just yet.

Here’s how Twitterati lauded Smith for the masterful knock:

https://twitter.com/carpo_10/status/1218855031207690241?s=20