#2 Smith’s magical hundred (29 April 2016 )
When Steve Smith is at the crease, expect the unexpected as his style often upsets the bowlers.
Gujarat Lions found this the hard way when they faced Rising Supergiant Pune on 29 April 2016 at Pune. Smith came to bat in the third over and scored a boundary off his very first ball. One over later, he showed his extensive reach. First, he slapped a length ball over covers by dancing down the wicket and on the very next ball he shuffled across to glance a ball that was heading down the leg side. Both these shots earned him boundaries.
For the rest of the innings, Smith kept leaving the crease to loft sixes, and clobber fours. In between, he went on the back foot to play cut shots and pulls. And all this while nudging singles and running quickly between wickets.
It wasn’t an innings of absolute power hitting; it was a display of busy batting. His shot of the day came in the 19th over against Praveen Kumar. Smith moved across and Kumar followed the batsman by bowling a yorker. However, the Pune batsman showed incredible skills and flicked that ball through his legs to fine leg for a four.
Smith completed his hundred in the 20th over off 53 balls and was out on the very next delivery. RPS scored 195 runs in their 20 overs but Gujarat chased this target on the last ball of the 20th over to register a close win.
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