Steve Smith's masterful century and Alex Carey's impressive innings propel Australia to a commanding lead in the second Test against Sri Lanka. Smith, captaining in Pat Cummins' absence, showcases his experience and prowess against the Sri Lankan spinners, while Carey's unbeaten knock seals a dominant position for the Aussies.
After a record-breaking triumph by Sri Lanka in the opening Test, the unbeaten 239-run partnership of Steve Smith and Alex Carey propelled the Australia ns to 3-330 at stumps, granting them a lead of 73. Smith remains unbeaten on 120, while Carey stands strong at 139 not out. The only real concern for Australia was Marnus Labuschagne's early dismissal, although there are questions regarding Josh Inglis' fitness. Inglis, slated to bat at No.5, was sidelined due to back spasms.
Steve Smith's superb century in the Boxing Day Test prompted prominent Indian broadcaster Harsha Bhogle to predict a prosperous year for the Australian batsman. Bhogle, a Fox Cricket expert, expressed confidence that Smith would capitalize on the upcoming fixtures, hinting at a second coming for the champion in 2025.“I wouldn’t be surprised if he now gets into a rich vein of form. He’s going to Sri Lanka now (and) if Australia continue playing like this, he is going to score a lot of runs,” Bhogle told foxsports.com.au. “He might have some time off in the summer after that. Then he preps and goes and plays a Test match in England. And then he’s going to the West Indies. He is going to score a lot of runs. He could have a blockbuster 2025.” While Smith fell short of becoming the fourth Australian to reach the 10,000 run milestone due to a couple of failures on a green SCG pitch, he has excelled in Sri Lanka. Following his 141 in the first Test of the current series in Galle, he delivered another exceptional performance on Friday with his unbeaten 120, bringing his series tally to 261 in two innings. By the time Smith reached the tea break unbeaten on 78, 142 of the 151 balls he had faced were delivered by off-spinners. Given his lack of dismissal by a finger spinner since July 2023, his level of confidence against the Sri Lankan attack was understandable.Smith's comfort was evident as he opted to use the reverse-sweep semi-regularly as he neared his 36th century, a surprising tactic considering he rarely employs this shot. After breaking a record held by Ricky Ponting when taking his 197th Test catch on Thursday, he snared another of the Punter’s records on his way to his 18th century outside of Australia, equalling a feat achieved by the Tasmanian. Smith now holds the record for the most runs scored by any Australian cricketer in Asia, surpassing Ponting's 1889 runs on the subcontinent in 48 innings at an average of 41.97. His seventh century in Asia also surpassed the previous record for Australians of six, set by Allan Border. He is now within five centuries of Ponting’s record tally of 41 hundreds for Australia.Former Australian cricketer Simon Katich proposed that Smith excels when captaining the country, a role he currently holds in Sri Lanka in Pat Cummins’ absence. It is his 17th century when captaining his country, “He knows what he is doing in these conditions and he is at the peak of his powers. He has a wealth of knowledge,” Katich said on the Seven network. Another ex-Australian batter Greg Blewett also showered praise on Smith, whose only real concern came when he was beaten by the flight from off-spinner Nishan Peiris when on 70. That delivery not only deceived Smith but, after somehow bouncing over the top of middle stump, also beat wicket keeper Kusal Mendis, who made an unbeaten 85 when batting. Aside from that, it was a chanceless knock from the Australian skipper. “It is great to see a champion of the game get back into tip-top form. He is back to the Steven Smith of old. I am just rapt he is making runs again,” Blewett said. “There was a period of time there where he was really struggling and … it is very pleasing to see (him back) and he is always hungry for runs.
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