Steve Smith denied Babar Azam a single to take strike in the next over and hammered 32 runs off it in the Sydney Sixers’ BBL game against the Sydney Thunder.
After denying Babar the strike, Steve Smith hits four consecutive sixes
Riding on David Warner’s third BBL century, and second this season, the Thunder posted 189 in 20 overs. But the Sixers chased that down with 16 balls and five wickets to spare, riding on Steve Smith’s record 42-ball 100.
Opening the chase with Babar, Smith scored 14 runs off his first eight deliveries, before letting loose against Nathan McAndrew in the fourth over, hitting a six, four and a six on consecutive deliveries. He took special liking to Wes Agar’s right-arm pace, scoring two sixes and a boundary off him in two overs and bringing his fifty off 23 balls in the process.
Match 37, Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder
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By the end of the 10th over, the Sixers were well placed at 107-0, and as Smith revealed in the post-match presentation, wanted to take Power Surge immediately. However, the Australian batter convinced the management to wait for another over “to target the short boundary” as he felt he could take 30 runs off that over.
To get on strike for the start of the two-over surge, Smith denied Babar a run off the last ball of the 11th over after the Pakistan batter knocked Chris Green to long-on. With just two fielders outside the circle, he dismantled Ryan Hadley, hitting him for four consecutive maximums. The fifth delivery was a no-ball that Smith cut for four, and a subsequent wide and a double off the last took the over’s total to 32, making it the most expensive in BBL history, and perhaps justifying his call to deny Babar the strike.
The Pakistan star, who scored just 17 off his last 20 deliveries, lost his wicket on the first ball of the next over and walked off visibly upset. Smith later went on to complete his hundred off 41 balls, the joint second-fastest ton in BBL history. He now has four centuries and three fifties in his last 10 BBL innings.
The Sixers, meanwhile, despite a slight hiccup that saw them lose five wickets in four overs, crossed the line and kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive.
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