Steve Smith has Indians seeing double

Steve Smith repeats his Friday heroics with another 62-ball ton as Australia take unbeatable lead in ODI series against India.

Steve Smith’s innings was full of inventive strokeplay. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Before last year’s Ashes Steve Smith was overheard muttering a strange mantra as he exited the nets in Birmingham: “better tomorrow, better the day after and even better the day after that”.

Technically Smith’s 62-ball century against the Indians at the SCG was on par with his 62-ball century against the Indians at the SCG two days earlier, but it would be churlish to quibble that he is only maintaining and not improving standards.

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The team adopted the batsman’s mantra and were imperious again after winning the toss, passing their record 6-375 against India in the first match by posting 4-389 in conditions that were miserable for fielders and bowlers.

All five members of the top order scored half centuries or more.

Australia’s highest score ever at the SCG was always going to be a big ask for India to match and when it lost its openers in the eighth and ninth overs it seemed over. Virat Kohli threatened with an 89 but was brilliantly caught by Moises Henriques off the bowling of Hazlewood.

It was a night for great catches with Smith pulling in a blinder to end Shreyas Iyer’s innings and a good night for Henriques whose bowling was effective after being brought in to replace the injured Marcus Stoinis.

India finished 51 runs behind Australia on 9-338 in front of an almost empty stadium.

While Australia takes an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three match series the night had one sour note with David Warner taken for scans on a groin strain. If his demeanour and gait are an by indication he may be in doubt for the Test series as well.

Smith is an eccentric genius and is among the greatest Test batsmen of all time. His performances in the 50-over game — he sits at 21 on the ICC rankings — have never quite matched his five-day efforts but that appears to be changing.

His 11th century was as energetic and as entertaining as his 10th. Not blessed with the power of a Warner or Aaron Finch, he makes up for that with invention, leverage and skill.

There were bigger and more creative shots, but an early on-drive was masterful. In the 40th over of the innings he cracked a Jasprit Bumrah slower ball through point for four, the subsequent slower delivery was glided through slips and a few balls later he flicked a ball travelling outside the off stump past short fine leg for another boundary.

Good luck setting fields to that.

By now the Smith tropes are well known. The traditional finding of the hands was played out in the lead up to the series. A finely tuned creation, the batsman is renowned for spending weeks trying to find that Goldilocks place on the bat handle. He once asked an umpire in a Sheffield Shield game to make a mark on the grip when the epiphany arrived. Unfortunately the grip slipped and the record was lost.

Despite his appetite for batting being well known he has again reminded teammates and coaches in recent weeks about the extent of the affliction. Justin Langer says Ricky Ponting’s arm fell off after two weeks giving throw downs to the former captain during the recent quarantine period. Complaints about the sound of his shadow batting in the hotel room have been recorded.

Did you know he fidgets?

Warner and Aaron Finch narrowly missed posting their sixth – and second consecutive – 150-run partnership but have moved themselves into some rare air.

The left-and-right-handed duo’s average of 52.72 over 71 innings is second to none – slightly better than legendary West Indies pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes who dominated the format in the 1980s. Warner and Finch put on 156 in the first game of the series and continued from where they’d left off.

Warner was particularly aggressive, hitting Navdeep Saini’s first delivery for six while legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s second ball got the same treatment.

Both bowlers were expensive in the first game and proved so again forcing Kohli to elicit overs from the part-timer Mayank Agarwal and even a couple from Hardik Pandya who is recovering from injury.

Finch, who struggled in the IPL and was dropped by his franchise, has fixed whatever was wrong, following up his century in the previous game with 60 from 69 deliveries while Warner made 83 from 77. Their partnership came to an end with the score on 142 in the 23rd over.

Glenn Maxwell again made the most of an opportunity afforded in the last 10 overs by smashing 63no from 29 deliveries.

India braved Australia’s heat slightly better on Sunday than they did two days before but Finch’s performance and call at the toss had the visitors suffering again at the SCG. Virat Kohli admitted his side struggled in the first game with muscles, unused to the exertion after a long IPL and two weeks hotel quarantine, protesting halfway through a ragged but entertaining match.