Steve Smith's 3 best bowling spells
Steve Smith is one of the best batters in cricket history. The former Australian skipper started his career as a leg-spin bowler before transitioning into an all-rounder and then into a complete top-order batter. Like most top-order batters in world cricket, Smith rarely bowls for his team these days.
While Steve Smith has bowled a few overs in Test cricket this year, he has not bowled a single delivery in T20Is since 2014. Also, the last time he rolled his arm over for the Australian ODI team was back in 2020.
The most recent match where Smith bowled for Australia was the Boxing Day Test against South Africa earlier this week. He bowled 2.5 overs in South Africa's second innings and dismissed tailender Lungi Ngidi to help Australia secure a memorable win in the ICC World Test Championship series.
It was Smith's first wicket in international cricket since January 2022. Speaking of Smith's bowling performances, in this listicle, we will look back at his three best spells in international cricket.
#1 Steve Smith's fantastic Test debut - 3/51 vs. Pakistan, 2010
Steve Smith made his Test debut at the iconic Lord's cricket ground back in 2010. Australia faced Pakistan in that game. Generally, the conditions at Lord's assist the swing and pace bowlers, but in the fourth innings of that Test between Australia and Pakistan, the Australian spinners bamboozled the Pakistani batters.
Leg-spinner Smith and off-break bowler Marcus North combined forces to take a total of nine wickets in Pakistan's second innings. The Shahid Afridi-led outfit needed 440 runs for a win in that match, but Smith and North's brilliance ensured that Australia bowled their opponents out for 289 runs and registered a 150-run win.
Smith took the wickets of Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal and Umar Gul to complete a three-wicket haul on Test debut.
#2 Steve Smith's love affair with Lord's continues - 3/18 vs. England, 2013
Smith bowled another top-quality spell at Lord's three years after his Test debut against Pakistan. Playing against the home team England in the second match of the 2013 Ashes series, Smith returned with figures of 3/18 in the first innings.
The Australian spinner bowled six overs in that innings. His victims were Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow and Matt Prior as Smith broke the back of England's batting lineup. However, Australia failed to capitalize on his three-wicket haul and lost the Test by 347 runs.
#3 Smith's best ODI spell - 3/16 vs. Zimbabwe, 2014
Tri-Series: Australia (350/6) beat Zimbabwe (152) by 198 runs. Masakadza 70, Raza 33; Smith 3/16, Starc 2/23 bit.ly/1okINdm
Australia toured Zimbabwe for a tri-series in 2014. Pakistan were the third team in the tournament. Australia took on the home side in Harare on August 25, 2014. Glenn Maxwell's 46-ball 93 helped the Australian side post 350/6 in their 50 overs.
Chasing 351 for a win, Zimbabwe lost all their wickets for 152 runs in 39.3 overs. Steve Smith was the wrecker-in-chief as he accounted for the wickets of Hamilton Masakadza, Prosper Utseya and John Nyumbu.