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Legendary England bowler Stuart Broad reflected on young wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith's Test career, saying that he has been "superb" in his brief, but a promising career so far.
Smith, in the absence of skipper Ben Stokes during the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka, was promoted to number six, where he showcased his class with an unbeaten knock of 72 in 97 balls, with five fours and a six which has kept the Three Lions in the hunt for the match. Speaking to Sky Sports, Broad was appreciative of the way Smith batted with the tail and backed him to score even more. "He is been superb," Broad told Sky Sports, talking about Smith's career so far. "Ultimately, this exact scenario England are in now is the reason he got picked, so when he is batting number seven, when Ben Stokes is here, and with the tail, they feel they still feel they can find the boundary and add a good amount of runs when the lower order are in." "It is a great opportunity for him, he has already played really nicely for his 70. Jonny Bairstow is one of the best I have seen at it - when fielders are all on the boundary batting with a No 11, he still finds the boundary." "If Jamie Smith hangs around on Friday morning and bats with the No 10 and 11, he will have the opportunity of pushing twos when he needs to, taking the strike, farming the strike and hitting sixes when he can." "He has got all of the ability to do it, it is just being put in that scenario under pressure, and he might find an opportunity to do so," he concluded. In four Tests so far in five innings, Smith has scored 279 runs at an average of 69.75, with a strike rate of 72.27. His best score is 95 and has smashed three fifties so far. His ability to bat with tailenders and shift gears while batting have won him acclaim. Coming to the match, England ended day two with 259/6, with Smith (72*) and Gus Atkinson (4*) unbeaten. Harry Brook (56) and Joe Root (42) also played crucial knocks for England after a shaky start which saw them struggling at 67/3 at one point. After electing to bat first, SL was 113/7, but knocks from Dhananjaya de Silva (74) and debutant Milan Rathnayake (72) took them to 236 runs. Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir took three wickets each for England. (ANI)
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