'Unsold' Steve Smith makes powerful statement to IPL teams with BBL century in 56 balls

Former Australia captain Steve Smith notched up his maiden century at the Big Bash League (BBL) on Tuesday with a sensational 101-run knock in 56 balls for Sydney Sixers. As the Sixers clashed against Adelaide Strikers at the Coffs Harbour International Stadium, Smith’s hundred helped his team to reach a total of 203/5. The team then bowled out the Strikers in 19 overs on the score of 144 runs to claim the victory by 59 runs.

It is pertinent to mention that Smith survived a massive scare early on in his knock before striking a T20 hundred. Facing the fourth ball of the second over, he looked to play a defensive shot but ended up missing it. The ball lost speed while brushing past the batter and hit the stumps with no force.

Luckily the bails didn’t fall off the stumps and the former captain received a lifeline. From being on two runs off two balls in 1.4 overs, Smith made the most of the chance and completed his century. He was involved in a 149-run stand for the second wicket with Kurtik Patterson, who scored 43 runs off 33 balls.

Watch: Steve Smith survives early scare before smashing maiden BBL ton

Steve Smith's statement to IPL franchises

With the sensational century, Smith made a powerful statement to the IPL teams. The former Aussie skipper was released by Delhi Capitals in 2022 and won’t feature in the next edition of the cash-rich tournament. The 33-year-old warmed the bench for most of his time with Delhi.

He has played a total of 103 IPL matches from 2012 to 2021 and has scored 2485 runs at an average of 34.51 and a strike rate of 129.09. Interestingly, his highest individual score in the IPL also stands at 101 runs. During his time in the IPL, he represented several franchises like the Pune Warriors, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiants, and Delhi Capitals.

Steve Smith found himself in the headlines in the first week of 2023 by smashing his 30th Test century. The 33-year-old surpassed the legendary Sir Donald Bradman in the list of century scorers in Test cricket for Australia and tied Matthew Hayden for the third most centuries. Former skipper Ricky Ponting scored the highest of 41 hundreds for the team in 168 Test matches, while Steve Waugh hit 32 centuries in the same amount of games.