New players free of scars – Smith

Australia’s captain Steven Smith believes his dramatically changed team have found a way forward in their first Test since coming together, a rousing seven-wicket victory over South Africa in which the Queensland left-handers Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw played key roles.

As well as Australia bowled, first-innings runs are going to be what defines the success or otherwise of Smith’s side. To that end, Renshaw’s effort to see through a tough period on the first evening followed by Khawaja’s subsequent masterclass in dogged batting dictated much about how the match panned out. Tellingly, Smith said it helped that three new batsmen were free of the “scars” of the preceding five Tests. Not surprisingly, Smith wants to see more of the same.

“I thought we responded really well,” Smith said of the challenges posed by the pink ball and floodlit conditions. “We had three batters in the top six who had no scars or anything like that so they were able to come in and play their natural game, which was nice. I thought we adapted really well.

“I thought Usman was outstanding to come in under a pretty tricky situation on that night, opening the batting and get through that difficult period in the night and then bat the whole next day. It shows a lot about his character and what he’s willing to do. I thought he played beautifully out there for seven hours to wear them down and score a big hundred. I guess that’s the sort of template we’re looking for in our top six batters.”

Renshaw’s place will be a matter for some conjecture whenever Shaun Marsh returns to full fitness, but there was much to like about the way he played his game, tested the patience of the bowlers and put the highest premium on his wicket. Smith was enthused by what he saw.

“I thought he played quite well. He knows his game very well,” Smith said. “Obviously he got beaten a lot, but he wasn’t …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com