England prospect Smeed breaks Pietersen record after stunning 97 on PSL debut

01/28/2022

Will Smeed made an outstanding start to his T20 franchise career by smashing 97 on debut for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League.

Smeed, 20, enjoyed a breakout summer last year as he starred for both Somerset in the T20 Blast and Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.

The youngster scored 385 runs at an average of 32.08 in the Blast and 166 at 33.20 in The Hundred.

As a result, Smeed earned himself a brief stint with Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 and is now starring in his first overseas T20 franchise gig.

Signed by Quetta as a partial replacement for Jason Roy while he is involved in England 's T20I series against the West Indies, Smeed has made the most of his brief opportunity.

He blasted 97 off just 62 balls against Peshawar Zalmi and broke Kevin Pietersen 's record for the highest score by an Englishman in tournament history.

It was also the highest score by a player under the age of 21, surpassing Pakistan star Haider Ali's 69 off 43 balls against Lahore Qalandars in 2020.

The game was Smeed's 26th professional match and he fell just short of a maiden century after getting caught on the boundary off the final ball of the innings.

He shared an excellent 155-run opening partnership alongside Ahsan Ali and propelled his side to 190-4.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Smeed spoke of his excitement at the opportunity, telling Somerset : "I’ve been quite fortunate and a few of these opportunities have popped up.

"I’m going to try and take as many as I can in order to make the most of it. The PSL is a very prestigious tournament and there will be a lot of top players over there.

"It’s another great chance for me to learn and develop. If I get to play, I can hopefully put in some good performances.

"The last two years have been crazy, and I just want to keep on developing. Everyone I’ve spoken to who has been involved in the PSL has only had good things to say about it."

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