Smith,NSW keep cool in low-scoring affair

On a slow wicket that would have perfectly suited him,the leg spinner hadn’t bowled a single over as New South Wales kept Mumbai down to 100 for seven in their 20 overs.

Perhaps he wasn’t really needed,with NSW’s four seamers and sole specialist spinner Steve O’Keefe doing their jobs perfectly. Mumbai’s batsmen – apart from James Franklin,who kept his head down to make an ODI-middle-overs-style 51-ball 42 – helped them on with some ill-judged strokes,with Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard particularly culpable.

But with Smith,no one is satisfied with the easy explanation. When the blond,baby-faced all-rounder walked in,NSW were 17 for three. Not long after,it became 28 for five. Abu Nechim Ahmed,using the wicket’s low bounce to full effect,had accounted for Shane Watson,David Warner and Daniel Smith. The scene,one might say,was perfectly set for Smith either to fall cheaply and set in stone the smug facial expressions in the press box or to play a match-winning knock and keep the doubters at bay,only till his next match.

The latter course was how it panned out,as Smith and Ben Rohrer put on an unbroken stand of 73 to guide NSW to a five-wicket win,achieved with three overs to spare,to keep their Champions League semifinal hopes alive. Smith,the dominant partner,ended up with an unbeaten 45.

Smith’s first job was to keep out Lasith Malinga,having arrived at the crease following a typically direct,no-nonsense yorker from the Sri Lankan quickie that was only prevented from crashing into leg stump by the exaggerated sideways shuffle of Simon Katich’s feet. Smith kept out four further Malinga deliveries — and namesake Daniel kept out four from his end — before Harbhajan Singh took him off,keeping an over in reserve.

The Smith-Rohrer partnership

The left-handed Rohrer soon arrived to provide Smith the sort of level-headed partner he had been crying out for. After the pair knocked the ball around for a bit,Smith stepped out to Harbhajan,reached the pitch,and smoked him over mid-off’s head for four – a percentage shot,if there was any,on this wicket.

Three overs later,Smith thrust his front foot across the pitch and slog-swept leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for six — a shot straight out of the Steve Waugh catalogue,ironically enough. James Franklin came on from the other end and dropped one short — Smith pulled it for four,and the equation suddenly read 29 required from 39,with five wickets in hand.

Malinga returned for the next over,and it only took one decisive shot for the scales to swing more or less entirely NSW’s way. The ball — the third of the over — was full,and fairly straight; Rohrer stood still,watched it all the way,and angled the face of his bat to send it speeding behind point for four. Ten came off the over,and the Blues only needed 17 from the last five overs. Smith ended the match with two fours in Abu Nechim’s final over,bringing up his highest ever T20 score with the first and finishing the game off with the second.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 100/7 in 20 overs (J Franklin 42 n.o,H Singh 15,S Clarke 2/15,S O’Keefe 2/18) vs New South Wales 101/5 in 17 overs (S Smith 45 n.o,B Rohrer 26 n.o,A Nechim 3/23,Y Chahal 1/17)

Must-win for RCB
Bangalore: Bangalore will aim for redemption when they take on Somerset at home on Monday. Warriors are leading the table with four points while Kolkata are placed second.

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