Babar Azam looked visibly frustrated after Steve Smith turned down a single to keep strike during the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26 clash between Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday, January 16.

The incident happened at the end of the 11th over when Smith turned down a routine single after Babar drove the ball to long-on, deciding to keep the strike. Babar set off for the run but was quickly sent back by the former Australian captain.

After the over, Babar seemed to be quite disappointed, gesturing with his arms before exchanging words with Smith at the non-striker’s end.

It was a tactical move from Smith to delay the Power Surge by an over and position himself to target the shorter boundary. The decision might have frustrated Babar for a brief while, but the Aussie batter backed his instincts.

The move paid dividends as Smith helped the Sixers amass 32 runs in the 12th over, which was bowled by right-arm pacer Ryan Hadley. This turned out to be the most expensive over in BBL history. Smith hit sixes off each of the first four deliveries and followed it up with a boundary off a no-ball. The over concluded with a wide, followed by a dot and a couple.

After the match, Smith explained his planning regarding the use of the Power Surge and revealed that Babar might not have been too happy with him refusing the single.

“Yeah, we spoke at the 10-over mark and they suggested taking the Surge straight away. I said no — give it one more over. I wanted to target the short boundary and didn’t want to mess up the first over. I was aiming to get around 30 from that over, and we ended up with 32, which was a great result. I’m not sure Babar was too happy with me turning down that single though,” Smith said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Smith smashed a brilliant 100 off 42 balls, hitting five fours and nine sixes, as the Sixers chased down a 190-run target in just 17.2 overs. Babar, on the other hand, was dismissed in the 13th over after scoring a 39-ball 47, with a strike rate of 120.51.