“I missed a full toss. It wasn’t ideal.” These are the words of Steven Smith, a leading contemporary batsman, reflecting on a pivotal moment that shifted the momentum of the match in India’s favor. Smith, who was batting confidently on 73 in the 37th over, appeared poised to steer Australia through to the final overs.
However, his attempt to attack Mohammed Shami resulted in him missing a knee-high full toss, leading to his dismissal as the ball struck the off stump.
Following this, Australia managed to score only 66 runs in the remaining 75 balls. Alex Carey played exceptionally, scoring 61 off 57 balls while batting with the tail-enders. Nathan Ellis also attempted to accelerate the scoring with some late boundaries. Nevertheless, Smith’s dismissal stands out as a significant turning point that paved the way for India’s victory.
“My plan was to try and put the seamers under a bit more pressure, and just rotate the spin,” Smith explained after the game. “But I didn’t execute it well, losing my wicket at a critical juncture. Had I stayed longer at the crease, we might have reached a score closer to 300. Alex was batting very well at the other end. It was disappointing to get out at that moment, but that’s cricket.”
Australia ultimately set India a target of 265 runs. Considering the pitch conditions, which were likely the most favorable for batting throughout the tournament at this venue, Smith lamented the missed opportunity to score a larger total.
“I believe we had chances throughout our innings to post a score above 300,” Smith commented. “Perhaps we were just one wicket too many down at various points. If we had extended one of those partnerships a bit further, we could have aimed for 290 to 300 and applied more scoreboard pressure.”
“The pitch overall seems quite worn out from hosting cricket over the past couple of months. This might explain why we haven’t seen scores exceeding 300 in the tournament here so far. We performed reasonably well, but we probably needed a couple of partnerships to last a little longer.”
Australia’s fielding also faltered, with dropped catches of Rohit Sharma (twice) and Virat Kohli (once at 51 runs). Smith acknowledged these were difficult chances.
“When you’re trying to tighten the game and build pressure with 260 runs on the board, you need to capitalize on those chances,” Smith concluded. “But that’s part of the game; drops happen. No one intentionally drops a catch. It’s just part of cricket.”
