In a stunning turn of events, the Ashes 2019 saw the rise of Steven Smith as he crushed England by scoring 211. Steven Smith, the Australian international cricketer scored his third double century, interestingly, all against England.
He narrated to reporters what it took to score 211 runs. “I think and visualise before I play where people are likely to bowl to me and where I am likely to score and try to picture fields that are set and play things over in my mind, where I am going to get runs and how they are looking to get me out,” he told sports journalists.
He adds, “Then out in the middle you have to adapt to whatever is thrown at you.”
Steven Smith had the lowest score of 92 at Lord’s, but this double century from 310 balls has made him rise like a phoenix when Craig Overton played a full delivery past mid-on. He is also the first Australian to score 500 plus runs successively in the Ashes series in England since Allan Border.
One of the best takeaways from this successful test match was the logic he implemented. He said, “I said before the game that if they bowl a lot at my head then they’re not bowling at my stumps and trying to get me out leg before wicket and caught behind the wicket. For them to go as short as they did and as early as they did with the new ball, softened that ball up and played into our hands.”
However, there were two occasions that would have cut short this victory. Firstly, when Smith was at 65 and Archer released a caught and bowled opportunity. Secondly, when he was at 118, this was a tense moment. Smith was caught at first slip, but he was reprieved as Jack Leach bowled a no-ball. England missed two instances to send the batsman to the locker room.
Looking back at this crucial moment, he said, “When I saw the foot over the line and (umpire) Kumar (Dharmasena) called me back I thought, ‘How good is this! I get to keep on batting’. Obviously, I had some luck and I made the most of it from there.”
There is no stopping Steven Smith. This drive and determination mixed with intense training has made him one of the best test batsmen.
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