In Australia’s Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers batter Steve Smith explained why he refused to take a single off Babar Azam’s shot on the last ball of an over.
On Friday, during the Big Bash match against Sydney Thunder, Babar appeared visibly frustrated when his teammate Smith declined to take a single off Babar’s shot while batting.
A video shared on social media shows that on the last ball of the 11th over, Babar played a stroke, but Smith chose not to run a single so that he could face the next over against the bowler.
Babar had already faced three consecutive dot balls in the 11th over and wanted to take a single on the final ball to regain the strike for the next over.
However, Smith’s refusal left Babar disappointed. Nevertheless, in the following over, Smith scored 32 runs with a combination of fours and sixes.
Smith finished with a fast-paced 100 off 42 balls, while Babar scored 47 off 39 balls, helping Sydney Sixers easily chase the 190-run target in the 18th over.
After the match, during the presentation, Smith explained his decision not to take the single.
When asked by the presenter about the conversation with Babar regarding refusing the single, Smith replied:
“After the 10th over, Babar told me to take the Power Surge (a 2-over batting powerplay). I told him to give me one more over; I wanted to use the small boundary side for the Power Surge and try to score 30 runs.”
Smith added that he didn’t think Babar was particularly happy about him refusing the single.
