Who is Jason Smith? Know about SA's new recruit
The Ireland cricket team registered a comfortable 69-run win over South Africa in the third and final ODI match in Abu Dhabi. Despite a valiant effort from South African player Jason Smith, who scored 91 runs, the Proteas failed to chase down Ireland's target of 285 runs. Notably, Smith was standing in just his second ODI. Here we decode his journey to international cricket.
Smith's performance fails to save South Africa
South Africa's response to Ireland's total started shakily as the team was reeling at 10/3. However, Smith was the beacon of hope for the Proteas with his career-best knock of 91 runs from 93 balls. Despite his efforts, which included nine fours and four sixes, South Africa fell short of their target by 69 runs. Notably, no other SA batter could touch the 40-run mark in the game which highlights Smith lacked support from the other end
Smith's early life and cricketing journey
Smith was born on October 11, 1994, in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied at Wynberg Boys High School where he started his cricketing career by playing for South African Schools and Wynberg Boys High School teams. Although he now plays for a Durban-based franchise in SA20, his roots are still firmly planted in his hometown of Cape Town. Notably, Smith can also contribute with his right-arm medium-pace bowling.
His numbers across formats
As per ESPNcricinfo, Smith has scored six centuries and 25 fifties in 82 matches of his First-Class career. He has scored 3,834 runs at 34.54. His T20 record, on the other hand, reads 1,410 runs in 66 innings at 28.77 and a strike rate of 123.35. He has scored 1765 List A runs at 34.60. With the ball, he has scalped 106 FC, 36 List A, and 30 T20 wickets.
Smith's T20 debut and U-19 World Cup victory
Smith made his domestic T20 debut against Namibia in the CSA Provincial T20 Challenge 2014, scoring a promising 34 runs off just 28 balls. He was also part of the victorious South African U-19 team that won the U-19 World Cup in 2014, alongside now-global T20 stars Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada. These milestones highlight Smith's potential and experience.
Smith's significant role in CSA T20 Challenge 2024
In the recently concluded CSA T20 Challenge, Smith was instrumental in guiding Dolphins to the runners-up spot. He scored a whopping 291 runs in 12 innings at an average of 41.57. Meanwhile, the T20I series against South Africa in August 2024 marked Smith's international debut. While he managed an unbeaten 6 in his solitary T20I apperance, he bagged a duck on his ODI debut against Afghanistan before scoring 91 versus Ireland.
