The match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders was the first match of Steve Smith in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021’s UAE leg. However, he came in place of Prithvi Shaw, who has sustained a niggle and confirmed the captain Rishabh Pant during the toss. While he has played a crucial knock, he also faced a blow during the game.

He has scored a 34-ball 39 and while doing so, he was hit on the thigh just a ball before getting dismissed. However, it was the first ball of the 13th over and Steve Smith tried for a scoop shot in order to get some runs behind the wickets. He shuffled across his stumps and bent down to hit the ball. But, Ferguson’s full toss outfoxed him and the ball hit his inner thigh after taking an inside edge as well.

READ HERE: Aakash Chopra opens up on New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad

https://twitter.com/CowCorner9/status/1442816969451847693?s=20

Soon after, Steve Smith looked in severe pain and laid down on the ground for few seconds. But, he got up quickly to continue his batting. However, the following delivery saw his dismissal where Ferguson bowled a fast delivery. While he was trying to clear his front leg and swung across the line, he got an inside edge as well.

READ HERE: Shaun Tait explains why speedsters struggle to bowl 150+kmph

After the first innings, Smith said: “Not an easy surface to play on. With the new ball, the only boundaries we got was when they overpitched or Shikhar sort of made it into a half-volley. When you bowl that good, hard length, some are skidding a bit low and some are stopping on the surface. As the ball got a little bit older, it just held up and took a bit of spin as well. We were probably looking for somewhere between 140 and 150, we are below that but hopefully we can take a few early wickets, put some pressure on, squeeze through the middle and scrape throughout the whole 20.”

“Our boys have been bowling exceptionally well, so hopefully we can start really well. It’s just one of those wickets where you have to scrape and it’s not an easy one to hit boundaries. We didn’t hit a single six and that’s pretty rare here in Sharjah. There was no real swing there, cross-seam and just rolling your fingers over the ball, slower balls and just good hard length, keep things pretty simple and just keep scrapping throughout the whole 20 overs,” Steve Smith concluded.