MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Steven Smith once again proved the difference for Australia as the new captain scored an assured half century to steer his team through a mixed day with the bat on the opening day of the third cricket Test against India.
Australia overcame the early loss of opener David Warner and the premature end of a promising second-wicket partnership from Chris Rogers and Shane Watson to go to stumps at 259 for five today.
Coming to the crease after the loss of opener Rogers, Smith made a cautious start before upping the tempo after tea to quickly bring up his fourth 50 of the series en route to an unbeaten 72 and over 1 000 Test runs for the year.
“He’s definitely one of an echelon of batsmen at the moment who go above and beyond,” Rogers said of Smith. “He’s just getting better day by day and it’s scary to think how good he can be.”
Summarised scores: Australia: 259-5 (Steven Smith 72 not out, Chris Rogers 57, Shane Watson 52; Umesh Yadav 2-69, Mohammed Shami 2-55) vs India.
