Steve Smith suffers rare failure on Sheffield Shield return
World's number one Test batsman Steve Smith didn't have the best of time on his Sheffield Shield return on Thursday. The Australian superstar failed to get off the mark and was dismissed by Queensland fast bowler Cameron Gannon with Joe Burns taking a sharp catch in the slips. Here's more on Smith and his rare failure.
The setback for Smith comes as a rare one. He was the top run-scorer in Ashes 2019 series against England. Smith amassed 774 runs in the series which ended 2-2. Smith's heroics helped Aussies retain the urn. He hit three tons and three fifties at an average of 110.57. Record-breaking Smith was on a different level and showed terrific consistency.
New South Wales were reduced to 50/3, trailing Queensland by 103 runs at stumps on Day 1 at The Gabba in Brisbane. Besides Smith, even Moises Henriques was dismissed for a duck. However, David Warner batted through the day to remain unbeaten on 27 runs. Earlier, were bundled out for 153 runs during their first innings. Marnus Labuschagne (69) was the top run-scorer.
Turns out Steve Smith is human after all! Out for a duck on a day of #SheffieldShield carnage at the Gabba pic.twitter.com/9LI8VPga8x
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 10, 2019
Smith slashed loosely at a Gannon delivery, with Burns making no mistake at slips to hand the former Test skipper a first-class duck for the first time in 54 innings and nearly three years. Gannon claimed 3/17 to be the star of the show.
Notably, Smith alongside Warner, are set to return to the national side for the upcoming T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Smith makes a return after more than three years. He has featured in just 30 T20Is for Australia and amassed 431 runs at 21.55. So he will want to improve on his numbers. Limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch will lead the 14-man squad.
