Smith reflects on 'pleasing' day at the office

Australia take their Chappell-Hadlee contests against their neighbours rather seriously. Having finished second best in the last two editions of the prestigious contest, they dearly sought a fast start to the latest instalment of this prestigious competition. Steven Smith, their captain, took it upon himself to set the tone for the series with a career-best 164 as the hosts ran away victors by 68 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Smith joined forces with Travis Head at a precarious 92 for 4 and the duo added 127, paving the way for a lower-order assault from Matthew Wade which propelled Australia to 324. Reflecting on his own "pleasing" effort, Smith hailed Head's 60-ball 52 as a crucial innings in the context of the game's dynamics.

"I'm not sure [if this was my best hundred]. I actually like the one I scored here in the [World Cup] semifinal [versus India]," Smith said on Sunday (December 4). "Obviously coming in the first over under a little bit of pressure and having to sort of be the glue through a few wickets... it was a pleasing hundred.

"I think it [Head's innings] was crucial. When he came out to bat, We were just communicating saying, 'we'll try and get to about 40 overs and then we can have bit of a crack at them.' But we were able to still play positively through that period and score probably five an over. We set ourselves up nicely with that partnership. I though he played beautifully. Obviously he got dropped once at mid off. But besides that I think he played some really good cricket. And it was nice to see Matthew Wade come in at the end and play a good little cameo as well."

Head, the South Australia batsman, slammed 130 and 52 against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield in the build up to the ODI series, prompting the team management to the include the left-hander in the middle-order at the expense of the returning controversial all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. Smith foresaw an upward career graph for the 22-year-old batsman.

"Looks like he is improving each game. He is in good form obviously coming off the back of a hundred last week in shield. He's playing some good cricket and I'm sure he's going to continue to improve the more he plays as well," he said. "It was more about giving Travis another opportunity. I think he played well, he scored a 100 in shield cricket so he is in good nick. I guess it was about giving him an opportunity first. Obviously he played pretty well today as well. So he's sorta taken that opportunity

Smith also looked back on a fortuitous leg-before call that went his way when he was on 13. Trent Boult set the Australian skipper with a series of outswingers before catching Smith on the shuffle with a sharp inducker. New Zealand's close-in fielded pondered a review but decided against it after the on-field umpire adjudged it not-out. Smith went on to score his highest individual score and then took a stunning catch at backward point to dismiss BJ Watling at a crucial juncture in the game to cap off a memorable day out in the field.

"I was glad they didn't review it," Smith said. "I think it was out. Of course, I'm glad. Not much was going through my head. I was sort of trying to let it go [out of my head] pretty quickly and moved on. I thought he [Boult] set me up pretty well. He got one to come back quite late. Fortunately I was given not out. Unfortunately for New Zealand.

"I think someone said from point I reckon that I hit it. I may have whipped up my bat to throw them off," he signed off with a chuckle.