[Watch] Steve Smith dismissed for a duck by Scott Boland in Sheffield Shield encounter against Victoria
Australia batter Steve Smith's preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has not gone according to plan after a second successive poor outing in the Sheffield Shield encounter against Victoria. After recording just three runs in the first innings, the right-handed batter was trapped LBW for a duck by Scott Boland during the second innings.
New South Wales were handed a target of 383 in the fourth innings after Victoria made the most of their first-innings lead. Smith came out to bat at No.3 after Nic Maddinson departed in the third over. The right-handed batter was up against Scott Boland with the new ball, and perished in the fifth over of the innings.
Steve Smith opted to leave an incoming delivery, but the ball jagged back sharply after hitting the surface. The impact was well outside the line of the stumps, but since the batter did not offer a shot, it did not come into play. The umpire raised his finger immediately after the appeal from Victoria, leaving Smith in disbelief. He walked back shaking his head as New South Wales were reduced to 20-2.
Have a look at the dismissal right here:
The side slumped further to 35-4 after Moises Henriques and Oliver Davies also followed suit. Emerging batter Sam Konstas is at the crease with Josh Philippe to guide the team to 43-4 at the Tea Break on Day 3 of the contest.
Steve Smith set for middle-order return after bleak stint as opener
Australia recently decided to pull the plug on Steve Smith's brief time as an opening batter following David Warner's retirement. The move had brought upon a lot of backlash, and with Smith not being among the runs at the top of the order coupled with Cameron Green's injury, he is set to return to his trademark No.4 spot.
"I think Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position. Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, yeah, clearly we've got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill," chief selector George Bailey told the media recently.
Steve Smith clarified that he did not ask for a change in his batting position. The final decision was taken following a discussion between head coach Andrew McDonald and skipper Pat Cummins in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar series.