West Indies positive despite Smith's brilliance
On a surface of variable bounce, Steve Smith stood class apart hitting an excellent 71 off 119 balls.
'He's one of the best batters in the world for a reason, but we always knew that he was going to come and he was always going to be positive,' West Indies all-rounder Justin Greaves told reporters after the day's play.
'We didn't start our best at him, but Steve is Steve, he just at a really good innings.'
Giving good support to Smith was Australia's number three Cameron Green who overcame indifferent recent form (48 runs from five innings) to score a fighting 52.
'I don't think I ever felt comfortable out there,' The Australian told the reporters. 'I think last night was tricky with the new ball, and had to start all over again, and then there were a few ball changes. I never really felt at any point that it was that good.'
Green, however, lauded Smith with whom he shared a 93-run partnership.
'You'd probably ask a different question to Steve, he was batting on a different wicket.'
Webster, Smith half-centuries help keep Australia afloat | Innings Highlights | WTC25 Final
Beau Webster and Steve Smith top-scored for Australia as Kagiso Rabada inspired the Proteas to bundle them out on Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship Final.
When questioned about how West Indies would approach the Test, Greaves stated that despite the Green-Smith vigil, the hosts remained positive.
'For us try and keep Australia under 300 (on Day 4), that is one of our main goals.'
On their batting approach for the chase, Greaves hoped that the West Indies batters could follow a methodology similar to Australia's middle-order batters.
'As a batting group we need to be positive when we go out to bat. Probably take some notes from Travis Head, Beau Webster or Alex Carey on just having that positive mindset.'
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