Sydney Sixers 220 for 3 (Smith 121*) beat Perth Scorchers 206 for 7 (Turner 66*, Abbott 4-43) by 14 runs
And while the Scorchers provided some fireworks, this was a day for Smith.
Globally, Smith has been something of a forgotten star in T20 cricket, compared to his status as Australia’s greatest Test batsman since Sir Donald Bradman with a return to racing this summer.
The 35-year-old has not played a T20I for Australia since last February and was overlooked for the World Cup squad last year. He has also been ignored in the last four IPL auctions, and last year only featured in Major League cricket of all foreign franchise leagues.
But in the BBL Smith continues to prove his worth, with this his third century in his last seven games. And it may have been the best one yet. Smith’s final 95 runs came off 40 balls, after the Sixers were particularly patient early on and were 24 for 1 after five overs.
Smith regularly targeted the SCG’s short boundary, while also gleefully clipping the point behind when Scorchers drifted too wide to try and counter him.
Two of his sixes came from ambidextrous hits to the short rope, and another was a flick off his pads by Jhye Richardson that sailed into Bill O’Reilly’s stand.
Still, Smith’s shot of the day went to the long boundary, picking up a wide ball from AJ Tye and hitting it inside-out over backward point for six.
Tye took the brunt of the damage for Scorchers, taking 0 for 62 from his four overs as Ben Dwarshuis also attacked him.
Richardson also scored 0 for 51 in his four overs, while Smith and Moises Henriques took him to 24 from the first over of the power surge during a 113-run partnership.
This was a day when everything Smith touched turned to gold, including being caught deep in the last over before rep fielder Nick Hobson put a foot on the rope.
