Australian batting superstar Steve Smith is set to turn 35 on Sunday. The right-handed batter has given cricketing fans a lot of memories and his batting exploits have been at the top for a long time. It is Steve Smith who has given Virat Kohli a close run for his money for the top batting spot in the modern era.
Steve Smith made his ODI debut for Australia in 2010 at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground against the West Indies. While he didn’t get a chance to bat with the ball he picked 2 wickets from 78 runs in a high-scoring game as he scalped Dinesh Ramdin and Ravi Rampaul.
In a total of 158 matches for Australia in the ODI format, Smith has scored 5446 runs with an average of 43.92 and a strike rate of 87 with 12 centuries and 33 half-centuries. He has also picked 28 wickets with a best of 3/16.
Here are the top 3 performances of Steve Smith in ODI Cricket
1. 105 vs India – Sydney – 2015
It was the Semi-Finals of the ODI World Cup 2015 and Steve Smith was playing in front of his home town fans against the defending champions India. David Warner fell early for 12 but Steve Smith and Aaron Finch combined well to add 182 runs for the 2nd wicket with Steve Smith scoring 105. The right-handed batter got his runs off 93 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes as Australia scored 328 runs won the match by 95 runs and went on to win the World Cup.
2. 104 vs India – Sydney – 2020
Just as the world was coming back to normal after the first phase of COVID-19 -19 India toured Australia for a long tour. The first two matches were played in Sydney as Steve Smith had scored a whirlwind ton in the first game to help his side win by a huge margin. In the 2nd ODI, Steve Smith scored yet another ton against India at the SCG this time scoring 104 runs from 64 balls as the home team scored a massive 389 on the board and won by 51 runs.
3. 164 vs New Zealand – Sydney – 2016
Rounding off Steve Smith and his fascination with the SCG, the then-Aussie skipper scored his highest total in ODI Cricket against New Zealand. Steve Smith hit 164 runs from 157n balls with 14 fours and 4 sixes as his team scored 324 runs on the board and won by 65 runs. The Kiwis put up a spirited chase with Martin Guptill scoring 114 runs but 3 wickets by Josh Hazlewood and two each by Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, and Mitchell Marsh helped the home team win the contest as Steve Smith was given the man of the match.