Smith hits top gear as Australians warm-up with victory

ESPNcricinfo
Steven Smith maintained a promising run of scores ahead of the World Cup by guiding Australia to a comfortable warm-up match victory over the West Indies in Southampton. This was after Usman Khawaja sent a scare through the camp when he was struck on the helmet by Andre Russell.
On his way to 76 batting at No. 4, Smith added 53 with his captain Aaron Finch and 109 with Shaun Marsh, who then formed a union with Glenn Maxwell to glide the Australians past their target of 230 with 11.3 overs to spare.
It was Smith’s third half-century in as many practice games, having also batted effectively against New Zealand XI in Brisbane before the team’s departure for England, via Gallipoli.
“It’s certainly the best seat in the house, he’s going fantastically since he’s come back in and it’s great to see him come in, score some runs and no doubt he’s ready for a big tournament,” Marsh said of Smith. “I don’t really speak too much out there but he’s obviously got a great understanding of the game and you try to feed off that, so he’s been fantastic to bat out there today and I’ve always enjoyed batting with him so it’s good fun.
“He’s come back in and done what he usually does, score runs, so it’s fantastic to have them both back in the team and they’re both really valuable players for us. [Smith] has been fantastic since our camp for New Zealand and the way he batted up there, and to come out and bat like he did today was fantastic for us.”
Summarized scores: West Indies 229 all out in 46.2 overs: Carlos Brathwaite 60; Evin Lewis 50; Sunil Ambris 37; Shai hope 21
Maxwell 2 for 14; Coulter-Nile 2 for 25; Starc 2 for 34; Cummins 2 for 36
Australia 231 for 3 from 31.3 overs: Steve Smith 76; Shaun Marsh 55*; Aaron finch 42
Reifer, Thomas and Brathwaite 1 wicket each
Australia won by 7 wickets

You might also like