Star Australian batter Steve Smith, who has also served as Baggy Greens captain in the past, was in action for New South Wales on Monday (October 21) during the Sheffield Shield 2024-25 match against Victoria in Melbourne. He came out to bat at No. 3 for the Moises Henriques-led side but was only able to score 3 runs from 29 balls in his first Shield match for the NSW since February 2024.
He was sent back to the pavilion by Fergus O’Neill after wicketkeeper Sam Harper completed the catch. 35-year-old Smith, who is Australia’s fourth-leading run scorer in Tests, is playing in the Shield matches for the first time in more than three years to prepare well for the upcoming five-match Test series against India.
The Indian men’s cricket team is all set to travel Australia later this year to take part in the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts on November 22 in Perth. After losing the last two Test series against India in front of home fans, Aussies are desperate to end the decade-long wait of becoming Border-Gavaskar winners this time.
While Smith was a big flop for New South Wales, his Aussie teammate Mitchell Starc impressed with his bowling performance in the second inning. The left-arm pacer dismissed three Victoria batters to finish Day 2 with figures of 3 for 20 in six overs.
Starc, who last played a Shield match in the 2020-21 final against Queensland before the ongoing one, was only able to take one wicket in the first innings. His white-ball teammate Sean Abbott was the top performer for NSW in the first inning with the ball. In his quota of 22.2 overs, he dismissed five Victorian batters for 62 runs.
After a forgetful batting display in the first inning, Smith will hope to come up with a big show in the second inning and help New South Wales win the match against arch rivals Victoria.
Apart from Smith, Starc, and Abbott, star spinner Nathan Lyon is also playing in the ongoing match but has only picked up one wicket so far.
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