Steve Smith: The Australian batsman missed the first ODI yesterday after getting hit on the head during a practice session.
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Another victory for Australia will see them winning their first ODI series against England in the last half-a-decade. It is worth mentioning that the last time Australia won an ODI series against England was also in England in 2015 under the captaincy of Steve Smith.
Coming on the back of a 1-2 T20I series defeat, Australia made amends across divisions last night to win the first ODI by 19 runs.
After half-centuries from Glenn Maxwell (77) and Mitchell Marsh (73), fast bowler Josh Hazlewood registered bowling figures of 10-3-26-3 to win the ‘Man of the Match’ award. Other than Hazlewood, spinner Adam Zampa was also among the wickets with figures of 10-0-55-4.
What worked the best for Australia in the second innings was their catching as Hazlewood and Marnus Labuschagne grabbed praiseworthy catches to convert half chances into dismissals.
Will Steve Smith play the second ODI vs England?
As far as the second ODI is concerned, Australian fans have received an affirmative development in the form of Smith’s availability. Having hit on the head during a practice session ahead of the first ODI, Smith had to miss yesterday’s match as a precautionary measure.
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who replaced Smith at No. 3 in the first match, scored a well-made 43 (34) with the help of six fours after Australia lost opening batsmen David Warner (6) and Aaron Finch (16) cheaply.
With Smith coming back, Stoinis is almost certain to warm the bench tomorrow despite doing well in his first ODI since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Smith, who scored 31 runs in three T20I innings on this tour at an average of 10.33, will be playing his first ODI since March 2020. In 24 ODIs in England, Smith has scored 744 runs at an average of 35.42 and a strike rate of 83.50 including six half-centuries.
