Steve Smith was left shocked with a fielding mistake that Babar Azam made during the Big Bash League (BBL) clash between Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. Babar hasn't had a great season in the BBL so far and has only been able to score 201 runs in nine games for the Sixers so far, including two half-centuries. He has maintained a dismal strike-rate of 107.48 and an average of 28.71. However, this time, it was his fielding effort that came under the scanner.
The incident occured on the fourth ball of the 16th over where Nic Maddinson hit Ben Manenti's delivery straight down the ground. Both Smith and Babar rushed towards the ball and the former slowed down as the latter appeared to be closer to it. However, Babar didn't put in a dive and the ball crossed the boundary rope. The mistake left Smith visibly confused and his reaction made rounds on social media.
However, this wasn't all as almost another fielding mishap took place between the two on the very next delivery. This time the ball was closer to Smith so he dived and successfully saved the boundary. However, Babar started rushing towards him as the ball rolled a little towards his direction. This led to the two almost colliding with each other, but fortunately Babar pulled out at the last moment and Smith eventually completed the throw. Mark Waugh, who was one of the on-air commentators during the match, hilariously said, “Get out the way Babar!”.
In the end, it proved to be a successful outing for the Sixers as they defeated their opponents by five wickets to remain in the playoff race. Earlier, David Warner scored a stunning century and carried the Thunder to a total of 189/6 in 20 overs. However, it was the Steve Smith show as he went on to score a 41-ball hundred and guided the team to the 190-run target with 16 deliveries left to spare. Babar also contributed decently with the bat and scored 47 runs from 39 deliveries.