World Cup: Adil Rashid's leg-break exposes Steve Smith's defence during Australia's clash against England

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 4 : One of the most reliable Australian batters, Steve Smith's Achilles heel, was apparently exposed by England spinner Adil Rashid during their World Cup clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.
Smith has struggled against the Indian spin duo of Ravndra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the Test format. But in the 50-over format, Rashid has an upper hand over the star Australian batter.
Smith joined hands with his protege, Marnus Labuschagne, to begin the repair work after Australia dealt two early blows. Openers Travis Head and David Warner were sitting in the dugout in the first six overs for scores of 11 and 15, respectively.
Both batters stitched up a crucial 75-run partnership to put the 'Baggy Greens' back on track. But the experienced legbreak bowler ended the partnership by dismissing Smith for 44.
Rashid made Smith toil hard for runs and eventually he lost his wicket as Rashid teased Smith to play a drive shot with a slow and wide-off delivery. The Australian took the bait, went for the shot, and found a tough top edge which went to Moeen Ali.
With this wicket, Rashid became the most successful bowler in the ODI format against Smith. In 168 balls, the Australian has scored 131 runs and has been dismissed seven times.
Overall, in the ongoing World Cup, Smith, while batting against spin, has struggled as he has amassed 77 runs and been dismissed five times, scoring at an average of 15.40 and a strike rate of 79.38 in five innings.
After Smith's dismissal, Labuschagne continued to put runs on the board from one end while other batters continued to struggle.
Rashdi claimed his second, as Josh Inglis departed for 3. Mark Wood, with his brisk pace, got better of set batter Labuschagne and ended his innings for a score of 71.
Cameroon Green looked promising but failed to finish off the innings for Australia as David Willey, who is playing his final games in international cricket, joined the attack to send him back for a score of 47.
Marcus Stoinis, on the other hand, held onto his wicket and decided to go after Liam Livingstone in the 44th over. He struck a six, a four on the next ball and once again attempted to clear the boundary but Jonny Bairstow's stunning effort on the field ended his stay on the pitch. He walked back to the pavilion for a score of 35.
Adam Zampa's (29) fireworks at the end pushed Australia's score to a competitive total of 286/9 in 49.2 overs.