Barry Bonds is considered as one of the greatest baseball players of all time and Aaron Finch quoted him to praise Steve Smith for his ton in Sydney.
Steve Smith showed his sublime brilliance during the Sydney ODI against India on Friday. The right-hander showed his class and blasted a 63-ball century, the third-fastest by an Australian in ODIs and it was his fourth century against India and 10th overall as Australia notched up a mammoth 374/6, their highest total in ODIs against India. Australia won the match by 66 runs to go 1-0 up in the series. Following the end of the game, Steve Smith won the Man of the Match award and Aaron Finch compared Steve Smith to legendary player Barry Bonds.
“He calls himself Barry Bonds when he gets in to those sorts of moods. He struck it beautifully, the way that he moved, the intent that he showed was second to none, that's as good a one-day innings as you’ll see,” Finch said.
Who is Barry Bonds?
Barry Bonds is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He received a record seven NL MVP awards, eight Gold Glove awards, a record 12 Silver Slugger awards, and 14 All-Star selections. He is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Bonds was an exceptional hitter: he led MLB in on-base plus slugging six times, and placed within the top five hitters in 12 of his 17 qualifying seasons. He holds many MLB hitting records, including most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001) and most career walks.
Bonds was a superb all-around baseball player. He won eight Gold Glove awards for his defensive play in the outfield. He stole 514 bases with his baserunning speed, becoming the first and only MLB player to date with at least 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases (no other player has even 400 of each). He is ranked second in career Wins Above Replacement among all major league position behind Babe Ruth.
Brilliant from Smith
Smith continued to show his class and he had said prior to the match that he had found his rhythm and was looking to overcome his poor performance in IPL 2020 for Rajasthan Royals with a stellar performance. His clean hitting, in which he found the gaps and timed the ball brilliantly, showed that he was in the zone.
“I have been searching for something for a couple of months now. About three days ago something just clicked. My rhythm came back, everything came back. Finchy and Davey played very well early on. We could come in and be aggressive. Wasn't thinking too much out there, just seeing the ball and hitting it. Was seeing the ball well. It was a good surface. I took a few more risks than I would normally. I targeted some bowlers and fortunately it came off. Nice to contribute to a good win,” Steve Smith said.
The second ODI will take place on Sunday at the same venue and Australia will be gunning for only their second series win over India in the last three years.
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 "Steve Smith vs India 105")
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