Labuschagne thwarts depleted India attack
BRISBANE: Marnus Labuschagne’s century piloted his side to 274 for five at stumps on day one of the seriesdeciding fourth test in Brisbane, where India’s unheralded attack exposed Australia’s early lack of ruthlessness.
India’s bowlers, with a combined 13 test wickets at the toss, are believed to be the most inexperienced attack Australia has confronted since 1880.
The tourists’ injury crisis became bleaker with confirmation that spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal) and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin (back) would be two of four enforced omissions.
India could have been excused for dropping their bundle when Navdeep Saini limped off in his eighth over, having suffered a groin injury that would prevent him from bowling again today.
Fellow paceman Shardul Thakur also left the field in obvious discomfort late in the day, having fumbled a return catch from Cameron Green on 19.
But the depleted visitors, as they have done throughout a fourtest series locked at 11, showed plenty of character in front of a soldout, sociallydistant crowd of 12,998.
David Warner and Marcus Harris both departed in the opening nine overs as Australia crashed to 17 for two, while Steve Smith (36) and Matthew Wade (45) failed to kick on.
Labuschagne, dropped on 37 and 48, made it to 108 before a mistimed pull shot resulted in a skied edge and his dismissal.
It had been a textbook Gabba hundred from the leading runscorer of the series, who worked hard early then cashed in as bowlers started to tire.
Green and Tim Paine, unbeaten on 28 and 38 respectively, may yet fashion an imposing firstinnings total.
But Paine, who opted to bat first on what he expected to be a ‘‘pretty good batting wicket for the first few days’’, and came in at seven, would have loved nothing more than to sit in the dressing room all day.
Such a scenario looked likely during the LabuschagneSmith and LabuschagneWade stands, worth 70 and 113 runs respectively.
An allrun four in the first over after lunch signalled Labuschagne’s intent, while another helped him reach three figures after a superb cover drive.
Labuschagne brought up his halfcentury in 145 balls, barely acknowledging the milestone, then only needed a further 50 deliveries to race to his first test ton since last year’s SCG test.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane, having a grassed a regulation chance at gully offered by Labuschagne when Australia were 93 for three, will wonder what might have happened if India held on to one of three dropped catches.
Smith is also likely to be cursing himself.
The gun batsman, who otherwise scored freely and looked fluent at the crease, became offspinning allrounder and former IPL teammate Washington Sundar’s maiden test scalp against the run of play.
Harris handed Thakur his first wicket at the highest level, while Wade was Thangarasu Natarajan’s first test victim. — AAP