Rashid Khan pleased to see Steve Smith back on the park

The Global Canada T20 league got underway yesterday and was a witness to an absolute run fest. The Toronto Nationals locked horns with the Vancouver Knights and won the match by six wickets. A total of 485 runs were plundered in 39.2 overs. The bowlers had no respite as the batsmen kept peppering the boundaries with sheer disdain. It was also the comeback match for Steve Smith.

He represented the Nationals. In his comeback, he didn’t disappoint by any means. The Nationals, led by Darren Sammy, won the toss and elected to field first and their bowlers were taken to the cleaners from the very outset. However, just when Chris Gayle seemed to tee off, Smith grasped a simple catch at long-off to send the Jamaican back that also presented Nikhil Dutta with his first wicket.

In the ninth over, the tainted Australian cricketer let go an opportunity as he dropped a catch at the same position to give Evin Lewis a lifeline. The Windies batsman went on to score 96 runs and lifted the Knights to 227 runs. The run chase was daunting, but it didn’t perturb the Nationals. Nizakat Khan perished early after which Smith took charge with the willow.

Smith’s impressive comeback

Albeit he wasn’t bludgeoning as that of his other teammates, he notched 61 runs from 41 balls with eight boundaries and a solitary six over square leg. He accomplished his half-century courtesy of a streaky inside edge that went for a boundary. The Sydney-born cricketer was eventually nipped out by leg-break bowler Fawad Ahmed. He shimmed down the track and missed the ball completely.

Chadwick Walton stumped him and finished the formalities. He perished with the score at 151 in 13.3 overs. Anton Devcich helped the Nationals to a triumph with a knock of 92 runs. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan bowler, was delighted to see Smith back on the park. He took to Twitter and wrote, “Pleased to see him back to the game and played classical inning well Played @stevesmith49 mate”

Here is Rashid’s post

Pleased to see him back to the game and played classical inning well Played @stevesmith49 mate 🙌🏻👍🏻👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/NQaJKu52kM

— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) June 28, 2018

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