Australia's Steven Smith slams his 12th ODI ton: Key stats
Australia's Steven Smith hammered a 131-ball 105 against New Zealand in the third ODI on Sunday. Interestingly, he clocked an ODI ton for the first time in almost two years. Smith stitched a mammoth 118-run stand with Marnus Labuschagne to get the Aussies past 200. He smoked 11 fours and a six before miscuing an inside-out to Mitchell Santner. We decode his stats.
Smith ends the century wait
Smith last scored an ODI hundred (104) in the second of three-match ODIs against India in November 2020. He had cracked a ton in the first one-dayer too (105). The Aussie Run Machine remained century-less for eight innings before breaking the shackles in Cairns. His last 11 scores in the format read 105, 104, 7, 53, 28, 48*, 47*, 1, 1, 61, and 105.
Smith has cherished the battles against NZ
Smith has thrived in the Trans-Tasman encounters in 50-overs cricket. Averaging an impressive 44.25, he has clobbered 531 runs in 14 innings, including a 61 in the second ODI on September 8. He has smacked two hundreds and eight fifties, with the best score of 164. His numbers are a notch above at home, having compiled 473 runs, averaging an awe-inspiring 67.57.
Decoding Smith's ODI numbers
Smith debuted against the Windies in 2010. Since then, the right-hander has piled up 4,722 runs across 136 ODIs. He averages a stellar 44.13 and has struck at a healthy rate of 87.41. At home, Smith has tallied 2,418 runs at 54.95, hitting nine hundreds and 10 fifties. He has 1,579 and 725 runs at away and neutral venues, averaging 34.32 and 42.64, respectively.
How has the Aussie innings panned out?
Put to bat, Australia suffered early dismissals in Josh Inglis and Aaron Finch. From being 16/2, the Aussies got to 134 before losing Labuschagne (52) in the 34th over. Smith freed his arms to fetch a quick 69-run stand with Alex Carey. Cameron Green (12-ball 25*) ensured a strong finish for the hosts (267/5). Trent Boult (2/25) was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers.
