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Opinion

Marnus Labuschagne to the rescue as Australia's opening woes worsen

15th January, 2021
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15th January, 2021
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Australia were looking shaky early on Day 1 at the Gabba, but by the close of play, Marnus Labuschagne and the middle order had wrestled the game back to an even keel in the final Test of the series against India.

It’s been a large narrative of the summer for the hosts, but their openers couldn’t get the job done yet again, with both David Warner – still clearly not at full fitness – and the re-called Marcus Harris failing.

Warner played a poor shot to a full ball, snicking off to be out for one, before Harris followed, out for five shortly afterwards.

There are many reasons that could be attributed to another slow start, chief among them the 26th swap in openers Australia have made in the last four and a bit years, to go with a lack of red ball and Sheffield Shield cricket for both Warner and Harris.

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Regardless though, the stats are damning for the duo, who had Australia’s lowest opening stand at the Gabba in more than a decade. They were 2-17 when Harris departed – and in the last decade at the Gabba, the worst they have been is 2-30.

From the failures of Joe Burns, the rash shots of Matthew Wade and David Warner’s twin failures in Sydney, Australia have lost all ability to play the red ball at the top of the order.

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While this series might be just about over – and with India again facing more injuries and a weakened team, it may not matter this time – but South Africa are on the horizon. Whether it’s in South Africa or as recently reported moved to Perth, they are issues that need to be fixed in a hurry.

Both of the aforementioned locations often suit bowlers, especially with the new ball, and Australia can ill afford to continue putting Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith into tricky positions – as they did through the Ashes series in England – and hope to get away with it.

Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne is a rock in Australia’s top order. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

But get away with it they did yesterday. While India having six bowlers out – Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and of course Jasprit Bumrah – probably played a part, as did the injury to Navdeep Saini mid-way through the day, Labuschagne led the Aussie recovery yesterday.

He played with intent at the right times, but didn’t overdo it until he was dismissed for 108 from 204 balls. It was gritty at times, but he kept the intent up, pushed for singles and rarely allowed himself to get bogged down.

Getting bogged down is something the Aussies have done with regularity throughout this series, the second innings in Melbourne being the greatest example.

Instead of that, by the end of Day 1, Australia were rolling along at about three runs per over, with Labuschagne keeping things moving. He only hit nine boundaries in his knock, and constantly looked to just place the ball around the park, keeping the Indian bowlers and fielders on their tails, and not allowing them to work at plans.

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While wickets did tumble at the other end – with Steve Smith looking solid before succumbing to Washington Sundar, and Matthew Wade playing another crazy shot, which should all but put the final nail in the coffin of his Test career – Labuschagne just kept on plugging away.

He got to his ton and, in hot and humid conditions, should have cashed in on a tiring Indian side, but instead threw it away.

The timing of him doing so left Australia in reverse and scrambling to save things, but with Cameron Green and Tim Paine soundly battling their way to stumps, it has left honours even at the end of the first day’s play, with the first session of today’s play shaping up to be critical in forming the direction this Test travels in.

Tim Paine

Tim Paine will be desperate to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. (Photo by Patrick Hamilton/AGP via Getty Images).

While Green was defiant in his defence, Paine was able to play his shots and keep things ticking over, which was badly needed given the injury to Saini, the conditions and the third-rate Indian attack, who were starting to struggle in the Brisbane heat.

In saying that, for someone who hasn’t bowled in first-class cricket for quite some time, Washington Sundar bowled excellently for the tourists, while Mohammed Siraj did his utmost in standing up to lead the inexperienced attack, who came into the day with just 13 Test wickets to their collective names.

That was compared to the more than a thousand the Australian attack held between them. It’s an incredible stat, and maybe one of the most lopsided in the history of Test cricket. And yet, at the end of Day 1, India have held their own and are right in this match, although having to bat last could be telling by the time Days 4 and 5 roll around.

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Still, Australia need more runs. They aren’t at a comfortable score yet, let alone a good one, and it’ll be down to Paine, Green and the tail to continue on with the platform Labuschagne built for them yesterday.

With no changes to the bowling attack, and on a pitch where runs look like they will continue to flow, Australia will probably be aiming for something north of 400 before they want to think about lacing up the bowling boots.

However, there is no doubt Labuschagne and some nice cameo work from the under-pressure middle order saved the day yesterday.

The openers are a headache for the selectors, but they will get another chance at some point. Australian fans can only hope they take it with both hands, in a completely different fashion to yesterday’s feeble effort.

Fans will hope they take their chance exactly like Labuschagne did yesterday in compiling a century, just Australia’s second of the series.

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