Debutant Craig Overton who broke in to the England Playing XI for the 2nd Pink Ball Test at the Adelaide Oval revealed that Aussie skipper Steve Smith was constantly telling him that his bowling was “so slow” and within moments after Smith’s comments, Overton castled Smith with a good delivery which skidded off the surface and almost beat him for pace which was a brilliant site for the newcomer.
The Australian skipper looked in good touch until Overton dismissed him to bag his maiden Test scalp. To get arguably the best Test match batsman of the modern generation as his first scalp is apparently a huge achievement and a feat which will give him confidence as the series progresses. Australia eventually ended the opening day’s play on 209/4 when play was halted nine overs before the scheduled close.
“It was a little bit of a cross-seam ball and it skidded on a little bit, which was nice and almost beat him for a little bit of pace,’ Overton said. ‘We had a little bit of banter where he was saying I was so slow. That’s a part and parcel of it.
“I found out about an hour before the warm-up that I was playing so it was a nice chat with Rooty there but I had to make sure I got my head down and was ready for play. It was nice to get out there, it was frustrating with the rain early on and once I got the ball in hand I was OK,” he further added.
Overton backed skipper Joe Root’s decision to bowl first despite the tourist not making most of the helpful bowling conditions at the Adelaide Oval.
“We were happy to bowl. First, there were overhead skies, and we felt we could get a few early ones,’ Overton said.
“We bowled pretty well all day but we didn’t get the nicks we deserved really. We will come back in the morning and hope to get some early ones. We feel pretty happy, obviously, we would like a few more wickets but over the day we felt we bowled pretty well.
“They played and missed a few times and if we come back in the morning and get a few early ones we’ll feel we’re on top,” the debutant concluded.
