The ongoing second test match between Sri Lanka and Australia at Galle saw Steve Smith roar back to form with a brilliant hundred. In the process, Steve Smith brought up his 28th test century and is now jointly tied with England’s Joe Root for having scored the most number of centuries among active players.
Steve Smith brings up his 28th test hundred in just 153 innings
There was a familiar air of control, poise, and absolute domination in the way Smith batted; virtues which have been somewhat missing in some of his more recent red-ball performances. And it was quite evident from the relaxed and carefree ways in which he was composing himself on the field how much he was enjoying spending some much-needed time in the middle of the crease.
The highlight of Smith’s batting brilliance arrived on the first day of the match itself. Batting against an on-song debutant Prabath Jayasurya, Smith was completely beaten by a sharp, flighted delivery from the left-arm spinner. Prabath’s ball pitched directly in the line of the stumps, but the extra flight from his fingers made it take a sharp turn towards the off-side; as Smith could uselessly play a false forward defensive shot.
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But Smith was just in too good a batting rhythm to lose his concentration and patience and flashed a big thumbs-up in the direction of the young spinner as a symbol of praise. It was an almost instant reaction from Smith, and the on-air commentators couldn’t stop laughing at the comedy of the situation. Here’s the video of the incident:
Steve Smith 😂 pic.twitter.com/2bMqe1TdHT
— Sachin (@Sachin72342594) July 9, 2022
Match Situation
For as good as Smith and Marnus Labuschagne’s batting brilliance were, Australia was undone by the mystery bowling of the Lankan spinners. Prabath finished with 6 wickets on debut, as Australia were bowled out for 364. In response, the Lankan Lions were led strongly from the front by captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 86 and Kusal Mendis, who is batting on 84.
Brief scores: Australia 364 (Smith 145*, Labuschagne 104, Starc 1/28) lead Sri Lanka 184/2 (Kusal Mendis 84*, Dimuth 86, Prabath 6/118) at the end of day 2.
