Smith, who is leading the Aussies in the ODI series after Pat Cummins couldn’t come to India following his mother’s demise, took an absolute blinder to get rid of Hardik Pandya. It all happened during the 10th over of the Indian innings bowled by Sean Abbott.
The right-arm pacer went for a 132.3kph seam-up ball which straightened from a short of a good length, and Pandya tried to push at it. The batter got the thick outside edge and flew quickly towards the wider of the first slip. For a moment, it appeared the white leather would easily evade the fist slip fielder, but Smith had some other plans as he attempted a full-length dive to his right and took a jaw-dropping one-handed screamer.
Here is the video:
Earlier, the tourists won the toss and elected to bowl first. Both teams came up with a few changes to their playing XIs. India made two changes, with captain Rohit Sharma returning to lead the side after missing the first ODI due to personal reasons. Rohit replaced Ishan Kishan, while pacer Shardul Thakur made way for all-rounder Axar Patel.
“Every game you play for India is a pressure game, so you got to stay calm and make the right decision. Two changes. Ishan misses out, I am back for him, Shardul misses out, and Axar is in,” said Rohit at the toss.
Similarly, Australia also came up with a couple of modifications, with Glenn Maxwell getting replaced by Nathan Ellis and Alex Carey returning to keep wickets in place of Josh Inglis, who played the opening ODI.
“It’s good learning for us playing on these surfaces. Ellis comes in for Maxwell, who has pulled up a bit sore and Carey is back for Inglis,” said Smith.
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