India’s speedster Mohammed Shami produced a reaper of a delivery and cleaned up Australian batter Steve Smith on the score of 41 in the ongoing first ODI between India and Australia at Mohali on Friday. Shami who took part in only two of India’s six matches in the recently passed Asia Cup 2023 has replaced Mohammed Siraj in the lineup. The Bengal-based bowler started with a brilliant first spell where he scalped a crucial wicket of Mitchell Marsh in the first over of the innings.
The 33-year-old then again came to bowl in the second spell and in the 22nd over of the game, he snared Smith in the third ball of the over. This was the fourth time that Shami removed the former Australian captain in ODIs in 109 balls.
It was a near-perfect seam position by Shami and the ball nipped back sharply where Smith wanted to play a drive but then ended up getting an inside edge onto his stumps. The off-stump was rattled as Australia were reduced to 112/3.
The Aussie batter Steve Smith is making a comeback to competitive cricket after missing out on playing the entire white-ball series in South Africa due to a wrist injury. Smith has a wholesome batting average of over 56 against the Indian team in 25 ODI games, with five of his 12 hundreds coming against the Asian giants.
India's Playing XI- Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (captain/wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
Australia's Playing XI- David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wicktetkeeper), Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa.