Smith breaks through for first hundred in three years

Steve Smith has overcome a mid-pitch mix up and a faltering middle-order to compile his ninth ODI ton, exactly three years to the day since his most recent 50-over century.

SCORECARD: India v Australia, third ODI

The 30-year-old’s hundred came from 117 balls in Bengaluru, anchoring Australia’s innings of 9-286 where wickets at the other end were constant, to reach the drought-breaking ton.

It’s the first time he’s raised his bat for a ton in the coloured clothing since he did so against Pakistan at the WACA Ground on this day in 2017.

Since his first ODI hundred, also against Pakistan in 2014, it's the longest Smith has had to wait between centuries.

Smith’s innings today came just two days after he fell agonisingly short of the milestone in Rajkot, where he was bowled on 98 searching for that elusive century.

A tickle through backward-point brought up the ton today, with Smith’s modest celebration warmly appreciated by the 35,000-strong crowd.

The onslaught continued after he raised the bat, pulling out all stops as he first cut Navdeep Saini behind point, and then whipped him over deep square for six two balls later.

Luck was on his side as he edged Mohammad Shami through the vacant slip cordon, writing the wrong in the same over with a masterful cut shot that beat both short-third-man and deep point.

He was eventually caught on the mid-wicket fence for 131, featuring 14 fours and a six, his highest ODI score on foreign soil, topping his previous best of 108 in Durban in 2016.

Earlier, he was part of a miscommunication with Aaron Finch, with the skipper caught short of his ground after finding himself at the same end of the pitch as his batting partner.

Replays showed Finch was furious as he left the ground, while Smith tried to explain himself as his skipper walked off.

Australia’s No.3 scored all around the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium today, as fluent through the off-side as he was damaging through the leg.

On a batting track that Finch opted to make first use of, Smith was especially effective against India’s spin duo, using his wrists to beat the notoriously frugal cover fielders.

The right-hander had struggled in one-day cricket in India before this series, averaging just 28.40 against the hosts in the subcontinent, which was easily his worst overseas output where he has played five games or more.

Both captains expected Bengaluru’s wicket to produce plenty of runs, and Smith predicted the same before the match.

“Bangalore’s just a nice batting wicket. It feels like the ball goes further in the air, it sort of travels, you see lots of sixes generally there,” Smith said.

“It’s quite a fast outfield from memory, and it’s usually a nice-paced wicket. Probably not too dissimilar to out there.”

Australia Qantas ODI Tour of India 2020

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.

First ODI: Australia win by 10 wickets in Mumbai

Second ODI: India win by 36 runs in Rajkot

Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)