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Former Australian skipper Steve Smith scored a T20 century after a long gap of more than six years. In his second match on Big Bash League (BBL) return, he smashed his first century in the tournament. Smith also became the first batter for Sydney Sixers to score a century in BBL history.
Smith opened the innings for Sixers against Adelaide Strikers and got an early repreive when the ball hit the stumps but the bails did not come off. After that, Smith was ultra-aggressive in the powerplay overs and smashed four sixes during the fielding restrictions. He got to his half-century with a boundary in the eighth over bowled by Colin de Grandhomme.
The 33-year-old did the bulk of scoring in the partnership with Kurits Patterson. In the 15th over, he got to his century with a six off Ben Manenti.
Smith had played a chanceless innings but he got run out in the next over. He got run out as he slipped when Sixers' skipper Moises Henriques sent him back. Smith scored 101 runs from 56 innings including five fours and seven sixes.
After Smith’s wicket, Henriques could not do much damage and got out for a single-digit score. Cameos from Jordan Silk (16-ball 31) and Dan Christian (8-ball 15) helped Sixers carry the momentum and post a total of 203/5 at International Sports Tadium, Coffs Harbour.
This was Smith’s second century of T20 career. His maiden T20 century came in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for now-defunct Rising Pune Super Giants (RPS). He scored 101 against now-defunct Gujarat Lions under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Before Smith became the first Sixers batter to score a century, Josh Philippe had the highest score. The wicketkeeper-batter scored unbeaten 99 in run chase against Melbourne Stars in 2021-2022 edition of BBL.
