What began as a fluent century partnership between Steve Smith and Babar Azam took a tense turn in the Sydney Sixers’ BBL game against Sydney Thunder at the SCG on Friday when Smith opted to deny a single to keep the strike for the power surge.
Babar was later seen fuming after his dismissal, a reaction that was linked to the earlier call. However, Smith clarified that the decision was purely tactical, which eventually worked in the Sixers’ favour as they won by five wickets.
The incident unfolded in the 11th over when Babar, batting on 47 off 38, looked to take a single after facing three dot balls from Chris Green. Smith, however, turned him down and made it clear he wanted to retain strike for the power surge, the BBL’s two-over ‘floating’ powerplay that can be taken after the 10th over. Babar appeared visibly unhappy when the pair briefly met mid-pitch at the end of the over.
Smith soon justified the call by smashing four consecutive sixes in the first over of the surge against Ryan Hadley, which went down as the most expensive over in BBL history. Although initially reluctant, Smith eventually took a single off the final ball to hand Babar the strike against Nathan McAndrew in the 13th over. The Pakistan batter, however, was dismissed first ball, walking off in frustration and reacting angrily on his way back to the dugout.
Smith, who went on to score a 41-ball century, later explained the tactical reasoning behind denying Babar that single.
“We spoke at the ten-over mark, and they [the captain and coach] said take the surge straightaway,” Smith told Channel 7. “I was like, ‘Nah, give it one over. I want to hit to the short boundary. I don’t want to screw up the first over. I’ll try to get 30 off that over’. [I] think we got 32, so it was a good result. Not sure Babar was too happy with me knocking back that single.”
Babar was not seen on the field after the match, though it was not confirmed whether he later made an appearance.
Mitchell Starc, who played his first BBL game in 11 years on Friday, said he was unaware of the incident but noted that batters, like bowlers, often favour specific match-ups in T20 cricket.
Babar was not seen on the field after the match, although it could not be confirmed whether he later made an appearance.