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Australia batter Steve Smith who slammed a scintillating century against India in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final, on Thursday said he batted beautifully and the Aussie batters put India "bowlers under pressure to disturb their line and length."
Australia have dominated the majority of the opening two days of the 'Ultimate Test' at The Oval on the back of centuries from batters Travis Head and Smith and outstanding bowling performance from their pacers, while India have majorly struggled to come to terms with the tricky pitch and English conditions that they are facing at The Oval. Australian attack ripped through India's top order to leave Rohit Sharma's lead side five down and still trailing by 318 runs at the time of stumps on Thursday, clearing most of the momentum India had gained from taking in a much-improved bowling display. At the close of play on Day 2, India had posted 151/5 at The Oval on Thursday. "I was proud of the way I played, I thought I applied myself nicely. I left well yesterday morning, hit the balls that were in my area and was pretty solid in defence. It felt good out there. Put the bowler under pressure to disturb their line and length," Steve Smith said at the post-match presentation. Smith reached his century in just two balls at the start of the second day, as Travis Head pushed a single off the first delivery. "I think when I first started this morning I couldn't ask for anything more than two half volleys on my pads to get me going. That was nice to get over that milestone," Smith added. Smith reinstated a technical tweak of moving back and across more with his trigger movement, which he claims is a good adjustment in English conditions. "I quite like it for English conditions and the way the ball bounces over here. It obviously worked when I was here last time," Smith said. "With the positions, I get myself into, it doesn't mean I'm going to do it all the time. I may revert back to old styles at certain periods when I feel it's necessary. But on this surface and with the bowlers I was coming up against, I felt that was the right way forward," he added. Smith praised the Australian bowler Scott Boland who ripped through the Indian top order as he claimed the wicket of star batter Shubman Gill for 13 and said," The skills Boland possesses is amazing." (ANI)
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