Have you ever seen a batsman watch helplessly as he gets bowled out?
No matter how poorly someone bats, it’s rare for them to witness themselves getting bowled out. If the ball misses the bat, you can feel it, and you can see it again in the video replay. But when you’re bowled, the batsman rarely gets the chance to watch the ball hit the stumps.
Today in Melbourne, Steven Smith had that rare chance. He came down the wicket and tried to play a big shot off a delivery from Akash Deep. The ball hit the edge of his bat, then struck his lower leg, and from there it dropped onto the stumps in a bizarre sequence of events. Smith watched in disbelief as the ball took an unpredictable path and eventually bowled him out.
For India, this strange dismissal was cause for celebration, as getting Smith out had proven difficult until then. On the second day of the Melbourne Test, Smith’s brilliant batting had already propelled Australia’s first innings total beyond 450 runs. Before this strange dismissal, Smith had scored 140 runs, marking his 11th century against India. Australia ended their first innings with a total of 474.
At the end of the first day, Australia was 6 wickets down for 311, with Smith unbeaten on 68. Today, with the addition of 163 runs from the remaining four wickets, nearly half of that (72 runs) came from Smith. This century was Smith’s 34th in his career, his 5th in Melbourne, his 11th against India, and his 18th on Australian soil.
With his 11th century against India, Smith now holds the record for the most Test centuries against India, surpassing England’s Joe Root, who had 10 centuries in 53 innings. Smith broke this record with his 11th century in just 43 innings, following his 101 in the Brisbane Test.
After Smith’s century, the second-highest contribution in Australia’s innings came from Marnus Labuschagne with 72. On the first day, Sam Constable (60) and Usman Khawaja (57) had made half-centuries. Today, Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, was on his way to a fifty but was dismissed for 49 after a catch off Jadeja’s bowling.
Summary of Scores:
Australia 1st innings: 474 all out in 122.4 overs (Smith 140, Labuschagne 72, Constable 60, Khawaja 57, Cummins 49, Carey 31; Bumrah 4/99, Jadeja 3/78, Akash 2/94).
