It’s been one hell of a day for Sydney Sixers fans so far as we had the Sydney Derby, also known as the Sydney Smash. It’s the 12th edition of the Big Bash League and the Sixers began as favourites, clearly having a better team on paper in BBL 12. And it was Steve Smith who grabbed all the limelight with some batting that we’ve barely seen from him over the last decade or so sine he’s been around.
The former Australian national side captain is playing for the Sixers after nearly 7-8 seasons and he smashed a century in his last game for them, and then went on to repeat the milestone today, going on to score back-to-back BBL centuries, something not many cricket experts would say Smith would ever achieve in his lifetime, since he’s better known for his batting in the longer formats of the game.
Steve Smith invents new batting stance
Smithy has always been known for his eccentric ways, batting stances, and the positions he creates when leaving the ball as well. Today, he was batting with Moises Henriques in a ran-reduced game where the Sixers had 19 overs to bat. It was the final over of the game and Gurinder Sandhu from the Sydney Thunder franchise was bowling a wide line outside off-stump, with a clear plan in place.
Henriques and Smith both had issues in getting the ball away because of this line and Smith decided to try and counter it on the last ball of the Sixers innings. He moved a bit outside the off-stump and took guard on what we believe to be the sixth or seventh stump, knowing the final ball of the innings would be bowled as per the field, wide outside off once again.
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Smith scored his career-best BBL score with 125(66)* and this knock included 5 fours and 9 sixes, showing a full repertoire of strokes in this knock. He remained unbeaten and improved Sixers’ chances of ending with another win, also improving his chance of getting an IPL 2023 contract and even play for Australia in T20 internationals once again.
Having some of the best Test cricket records, Smith has never really been the best in the shortest format of the game but BBL 12 has been a breakthrough year for him, in the latter stages of his cricketing career.
Steve Smith scored 125 off 66; it had 9 sixes.
Unusual stance off the last ball.#BBL12 pic.twitter.com/BHbOyrihBI
— Saikat Ghosh (@Ghosh_Analysis) January 21, 2023
It’s not the first time we’ve seen Smith do something that the rest of the world has been in awe of, and we’re sure that it won’t be the last time either. In the chase, Smith was mic’d up and the commentators picked his mind a lot about that innings and how he produced such a marvellous knock. This all made for some great viewing in the BBL 12 latter stages of the tournament.
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