Steve Smith played another gritty knock of 71 off 123 balls helping Australia to reach 295 in their first innings of 5th Test. Given that his team lost wickets at the other end, Smith stood tall and scored important runs for his team. 

All of England’s mainstream bowlers were amongst the wickets. Chris Woakes took three, Jos Root, Stuart Broad, and Mark Wood took two each and James Anderson took one. 

Smith survived a close call on day 2 when he was on 44 with third umpire Nitin Menon ruling him not out. Other than that, it was a flawless innings from the former Australian skipper. 

Also Read: 42 Runs In 26 Overs: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne Create Unwanted Record With ‘Boreball’ Approach

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar meanwhile, praised Smith’s sensational ball sense and also hailed him as a modern great. He took to Twitter and wrote 

“Realised again, watching him bat yesterday. Steve Smith has just one overwhelming & unique strength that makes him a modern great. Sensational ‘ball sense’. The bat finds its way down at the right time & place to make a glorious connection no matter where his feet are. #Ashes”. 

Also Read: AUS vs ENG: “Never Seen Australia Play With So Much Fear”- Michael Vaughan

Sanjay Manjrekar On What Makes Steve Smith A Modern Great

Realised again, watching him bat yesterday. Steve Smith has just one overwhelming & unique strength that makes him a modern great.
Sensational ‘ball sense’.
The bat finds its way down at the right time & place to make a glorious connection no matter where his feet are.#Ashes

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 29, 2023

Smith has scored 319 runs in five innings in this Ashes series so far. He also kept his opinion on given not out by the third umpire. 

“I saw the initial replay and saw the bail come up, and when I looked at it the second time looked like Jonny might have knocked the bail before the ball had come. Looked pretty close at that stage, if the ball had hit at the initial stage when the bail came then think I was well out of my ground” Smith said. 

Smith went on to score a crucial 71 off 123 balls thereby helping Australia recover from 185/7 in their first innings as they ended up posting 295. He was finally dismissed as he tried to play an uncharacteristic shot, top-edging the ball with Bairstow taking a good catch just outside the 30-yard circle.

Also Read: AUS vs ENG: MCC Clarifies Stance On Steve Smith’s Not Out Decision By 3rd Umpire Nitin Menon

The post AUS vs ENG: Sanjay Manjrekar Hails ‘Modern Great’ Steve Smith’s ‘Ball Sense’ appeared first on CricketAddictor.