Australia versus New Zealand: Will Steve Smith, without a century at World Cups since 2015, be able to make it count at No.4? | Cricket-world-cup News

Skipper Pat Cummins had just got done with his press conference on Friday morning in Dharamsala and was now occupied with face-timing duties at the HPCA Stadium. His bowling partner, Mitchell Starc had his earpods on as he went for a jog around the boundary. David Warner – also on a phone call – rested his foot the boundary advertising board.The atmosphere around the Australian team, who reached here on Thursday afternoon, was as calm as it can get in the middle of a World Cup.
Nothing like a 306-run win earlier this week to boost their morale ahead of the big weekend fixture against their Trans-Tasman rivals.
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It saw David Warner continue his hot run-scoring form, Glenn Maxwell power to the quickest hundred in World Cup hory, and a comprehensive performance the bowlers on a belter of a batting track. As Australia walk into the latter half of their campaign though, the one box that remains to be ticked is a hundred from their talisman number three.
Steve Smith had last hit a World Cup century back in 2015, in the semi final against India. It’s been 16 games since and with the wait for a triple figure score has come a proposition in the dressing room – of Smith being demoted down the order.

While the scores of 46, 19, 0 and 7 were followed a 71 against the Dutch, the pressure has been mounting on Smith with Travis Head’s return in the fray. An inclusion that’ll see Mitch Marsh make way for the southpaw at the top and play number three – a spot Smith has batted at for 85 off his 134 ODI innings. “He (Smith) said it himself, ‘I’ll do whatever is best for the team.’ Travis has been amazing over the last four months. So has Mitch Marsh. David Warner, obviously the superstar there. So yeah, we think that’s the best way to set up the team. We all do roles which are not in our preference but it’s what’s best for the team, so it’s fine,” Cummins told the reporters on Friday.
It came as little surprise that 24 hours ahead of their next game, before any of his teammates, Smith was the first to make way to the nets for one of his typical sessions. It wasn’t that tough to spot him.
A touch of the two pads with his right hand, a quick scan around, three taps of the bat before the ball is released, and then that famous fidgety backlift of his. It’s a tiring routine, and one only he can pers with for each of the balls he faced for 88 minutes.
Starting off facing left-arm throwdowns from round the wicket – to simulate one Trent Boult – Smith was soon batting right-arm quick throwdowns from the other side of the wicket and some spin bowling from his protege Marnus Labuschagne.

It was a session in sync with the flexible demands of a role he may have to play – number four in ODIs. For every last-minute-open-the-bat-face shot down to short third, there were explosive pull shots in equal measures. The caressing back foot punches were swiftly followed shimmying down the track and slapping the ball hard. And then there was the flick shot and its duality.
It’s a shot Smith uses better than most in world cricket to collect boundaries in the death overs, manipulating the field behind square on the leg side. On Friday though, he flexed its implementation in the mid wicket-wide long on arc off a delivery similar to the one that removed him in the opening game against India. One that came in to the right hander after being pitched on the leg stump – inducing a forward press – and beating the outside edge after turning to impact the top of off. It was Jadeja then. On Friday, it was Labuschagne, who pitched a couple of those.Most Read
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Here though, instead of committing forward, Smith tracked back into his crease and without any footwork, opened up his hip to pick the ball off the turn. Not a loft, carved down mid wicket for at least a couple of runs.
It’s a shot that may come handy against the likes of Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra – both of whom are of the same breed as Jadeja and may have spin-conducive conditions on offer, as has been the case with day games in Dharamsala.
For Smith, it may be a last chance to make Cummins rethink his choice for the number three role or a first go at number four at this World Cup. As of Friday, Head’s return to the Australian XI seemed conjectural with no confirmation from Cummins and barely 15 minutes of batting in the nets. Among the certainties was that for Australia’s usual number three, a World Cup hundred is long overdue.