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Steve Smith and Shane Watson (File Photo: Twitter)
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith attracted the headlines for his two-word stunning reply to the former Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson and ex-captain Aaron Finch. Notably, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson were in conversation with Steve Smith after Australia’s 3-wicket win against South Africa in the second semi-final of the ODI World Cup 2023.
Watson went on to ask Smith about the plans of the Australian team against the only unbeaten team of the tournament, India while facing them in the final of the tournament.
"They are the best team and have won 10 matches." - Steve Smith on Team India
“How would Australia beat India in the final?” asked Shane Watson
“Good question,” replied Steve Smith which eventually resulted in utter silence for a few seconds.
However, Steve Smith broke this silence himself by continuing his answer to Watson’s question after his unexpected ‘good question’ remarks.
“I don’t know. They are the best team and have won 10 matches. India have a strong bowling attack. We will try to give a good performance against them,” Smith added later.
Speaking of the action of the second semi-final between South Africa and Australia, the Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, South Africa crumbled against the Aussie bowling attack comprising of the veteran pacers Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and skipper Pat Cummins.
However, on the back of David Miller’s well-fought century (101 runs off 116 balls, with 8 fours and 5 sixes), South Africa posted a total of 212 runs, losing all the wickets in 49.4 overs. Starc and Cummins scalped 3 wickets each, alongside two wickets each bagged by Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood.
While chasing the target, the Aussies got a good start of 60 runs for the first wicket from the openers, David Warner and Travis Head. Head scored 62 runs before getting trapped by Keshav Maharaj in the 15th over at Australia’s score of 106 runs. Later, the Aussies lost a few wickets at quick succession in the middle-order but eventually, skipper Cummins and lower-order batter Starc took Australia home to win the match by 3 wickets, scoring 215 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 47.2 overs.