Pune: Australia’s biggest match-winners from the Pune Test – where they beat India by 333 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series – Steve O’Keefe and Steve Smith have received heavy praise from all quarters.
O’Keefe scalped 12 wickets (six wickets in each innings) to flounder the India batsmen, while skipper Smith struck a gritty century in the second innings. The duo helped Australia win their first Test on Indian soil in 13 years.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann praised O’Keefe for his deadly bowling and compared the left-arm spinners first inning’s spell of 6 for 35 with Mitchell Johnson’s 7 for 40 against England in Adelaide in the 2013 Ashes.
“An exceptional spell – I haven’t seen that since Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes with England in Adelaide when he tore them apart,” Lehmann was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.
The coach and former batsman – who was part of last Australian team to win a Test series in India in 2004 – also termed Smith’s century as “his best”.
"I think it's probably his best, especially in those conditions," said Lehmann. "I haven't seen him so determined. He's always determined – he's the captain of our country and plays really well obviously, but he knows conditions on that wicket (were difficult). To make a hundred was very special, so that'd have to be in his top few for sure."
