Smith reveals secret to flick-shot against Wahab in World T20
Asutralian skipper flicked the full-toss towards unguarded square leg boundary
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB
Australia skipper Steven Smith revealed on Wednesday he ‘knew’ where Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz would bowl to him when he manufactured an astounding shot against the left-armer in the recently concluded World T20.
The moment came during the last ball of the nineteenth over when Wahab, instead of aiming at the bare stumps, bowled a delivery onto Smith’s pads who had already moved to his right. The 26-year-old flicked the full-toss towards the unguarded square leg boundary.
"You look at field… (Wahab) was always going to bowl wide," said Smith. "I genuinely think if he had bowled at stumps it would've been an easier shot.”
The right-hander added that when a player is in the zone, it becomes easy to hit anything anywhere: “I could just tell where it was going to go. When you're in the zone … you can just tell where it's going to go occasionally. That was one of those instances.”
Smith scored unbeaten 61 against Pakistan in Australia’s second-last group match to steer his team to a mammoth 193-run total. The Shahid Afridi-led side could only manage 172 runs in reply — 22 runs short of target.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time that Smith pulled an outrageous shot out of the hat. During a Test match against New Zealand and in an ODI against South Africa, Smith went between his legs to find the boundary.
"That's something I've worked on a little bit in the nets," said Smith. "When the time's right and the field's right ... you don't think about doing it, it just sort of happens. Yorkers are hard to get away at the best of times so you've got to try and find a place to hit them."
Steven Smith was quoted by Cricket.com.au
The moment came during the last ball of the nineteenth over when Wahab, instead of aiming at the bare stumps, bowled a delivery onto Smith’s pads who had already moved to his right. The 26-year-old flicked the full-toss towards the unguarded square leg boundary.
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"You look at field… (Wahab) was always going to bowl wide," said Smith. "I genuinely think if he had bowled at stumps it would've been an easier shot.”
The right-hander added that when a player is in the zone, it becomes easy to hit anything anywhere: “I could just tell where it was going to go. When you're in the zone … you can just tell where it's going to go occasionally. That was one of those instances.”
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Smith scored unbeaten 61 against Pakistan in Australia’s second-last group match to steer his team to a mammoth 193-run total. The Shahid Afridi-led side could only manage 172 runs in reply — 22 runs short of target.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time that Smith pulled an outrageous shot out of the hat. During a Test match against New Zealand and in an ODI against South Africa, Smith went between his legs to find the boundary.
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"That's something I've worked on a little bit in the nets," said Smith. "When the time's right and the field's right ... you don't think about doing it, it just sort of happens. Yorkers are hard to get away at the best of times so you've got to try and find a place to hit them."
Steven Smith was quoted by Cricket.com.au