Placement and timing my strength, says Steve Smith

Australia was indebted to an excellent knock from Steve Smith as it claimed a T20 win over Pakistan and the former skipper cited his timing and placement as key.

Australia's Steve Smith raises his bat after scoring a half-century.

Steve Smith conceded he may lack the strength of Twenty20 cricket's big hitters, but the Australia star knows he has the talent to make runs in the shortest format.

Speaking after smashing a magnificent unbeaten 80 off 51 deliveries to help Australia beat Pakistan by seven wickets, Smith cited his placement and timing as key.

The result at Manuka Oval gave the hosts a 1-0 series lead and it all hinged on Smith's well-crafted knock.

"If you look at my batting record in T20 internationals, it's not crash hot," said Smith.

"I guess you have to bear in mind, [early in my career] I was batting number eight or nine, coming in and slogging, facing half a dozen balls tops. It's never easy so it's going to affect your record at some point.

"I don't doubt my ability. I know the tempos of the game and I've played a lot of [T20] cricket now.

"I may not be as strong as some of the other guys but I use placement and timing. The white ball usually flies off the bat particularly when it's brand new. If you're timing the ball well you get value for your shots most places."

Australia successfully chased down 151 for victory in the second of three T20 meetings, with Smith accounting for over half of that total in an innings that included 11 fours and one maximum.

The former captain gave an insight into his thought processes when he is at the crease with a target to beat, and described his responsibility to "fix it" when things are not going to plan.

"If you're chasing, you weigh up the situation and what you need and what you need to go at, which bowlers you want to target and just work out the maths in your head and that's chasing," he explained.

"Batting first you have to sum up conditions and how the wicket is playing, what you think a good score is and who is in the opposition, all those sorts of things.

"I've played a lot of cricket now, I'm pretty experienced and my role in this team is to fix it if the top don't come off.

"They [the top order] have been exceptional in these games that we've played, Sri Lanka and the first one against Pakistan before we got washed out.

"They're pretty consistent up top so if they don't come off then it's up to me to fix it."