Cricket: Smith foiled by Black Caps’ clever planning

New Zealand have shown they have the plans to unsettle Steve Smith this summer after they removed Australia’s batting wizard in familiar fashion in Perth.

New Zealand's Neil Wagner, left, takes the wicket of Australia’s Steve Smith

New Zealand have shown they have the plans to unsettle Steve Smith this summer after they removed Australia’s batting wizard in familiar fashion in Perth.

Smith was caught by a leg trap trying to pull Neil Wagner on 43, after previously ducking several short balls from the Black Caps quick. It means he has now been caught pulling in the position in his last two Test innings by New Zealand, as well as his last ODI against them in the World Cup. But Smith’s out was more than just crucial planning by the Black Caps with catchers in behind square on the leg side.

New Zealand starved the world’s premier batsman of run-scoring opportunities on day one, as he spent 164 balls at the crease.

He went his first 51 balls without hitting a boundary and the innings was the slowest of his career in any knock where he has hit above 20.

“You want to bowl your best at him and dry him up,” Wagner said. “I thought we bowled really well to him, didn’t give him any width, or any room to score, try and dot him up and hopefully he would come at us.

“He didn’t give us much until that shot he got out to.”

New Zealand are known as one of world cricket’s most shrewd planners. When they outplayed Australia and drew 0-0 with them in 2001-02, they took Glenn McGrath out of the game by refusing to play at any ball outside off stump. Their plan to Smith is well researched, despite having finished a series against England last week themselves.

He was caught in that fashion in a 2016 Test against New Zealand by Martin Guptill off Wagner.

Steve Smith ducks under a short ball from New Zealand's Neil Wagner

In this year’s World Cup Guptill also took a screamer off Lockie Ferguson’s bowling fielding there, while Smith also fell at leg trap to Stuart Broad at the Oval during the Ashes.

Then came his crucial dismissal on Thursday, ending a 132-run third-wicket stand with centurion Marnus Labuschagne.

“We’ve got him out like that before, once before, and we’ve seen him get out to it again,” Wagner said.

“At the end of the day, you’ve just got to execute a plan and if it comes off, it comes off, which on the day we’re happy it did.”

AAP