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Khawaja tons up again, Pakistan's negative tactics slammed as 'Sad Marnus' becomes an instant meme

12th March, 2022
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12th March, 2022
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Usman Khawaja steadied the ship alongside Steve Smith on Day 1 in Karachi bringing up his 11th Test century and third since he was re-called to the Australian team as Australia finished the day 3 for 251.

It was a special ton for Khawaja who was born in Pakistan and it came at a crucial time in the match.

Last Test Khawaja was out in the 90s and you could see how much the century meant to him.

Khawaja and Smith had a 159-run partnership before Smith fell late in the day to a superb catch by Faheem Ashraf at slip as Australia made amends for a difficult first session.

Khawaja finished the day on 127 not out with nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (0) surviving the final five deliveries of the day including giving a tough chance on the final ball to short leg.

“It would have been nice Smith there at the end,” Khawaja said.

“We had a good partnership and we’ve still got plenty of batting to come.”

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It was another missed opportunity for Smith to score a century. He fell on 72 off 214 balls and his patience was something to behold with Pakistan’s negative tactics coming under fire from many including former Pakistan great Waqar Younis.

“It started to reverse a lot in the second session, made it really hard to score and then the last session they bowled pretty leg side and just some negative plans to see if we’d play some shots. We just decided not to, we didn’t want to give them any free wickets,” Khawaja said.

Earlier, Pat Cummins won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first.

He confirmed that spin bowler Mitchell Swepson would make his debut with Australia going with two spin bowlers.

Khawaja was the man of the day and he was the one to present Swepson his Test cap.

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Mitchell Swepson

(Cricket Australia)

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day for Marnus Labuschange.

The look of on his face in the dressing room after running himself out for a duck against Pakistan said it all.

Labuschagne became an instant meme and it’s not the first time in Test cricket for the no.1 batsman in world cricket.

It wasn’t that long ago that we had his bizarre dismissal against England where he fell over and was clean bowled.

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On that occasion Marnus laughed it off on social media and joined in the fun that everyone made of the dismissal.

Judging by the look on his face it’s hard to imagine him laughing this one off – mainly because he was out for a duck and it also put his team on the back foot. 

He has already copped it on social media. Here are some of the best tweets:

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But he also copped it from commentator Rob Key.


The former England player made an observation about Labuschagne’s spin bowling pitch contraption that he set up at home before the series.  

“As soon as he got run out the first thing I sort of thought was, what’s the point in making your own spinning thing at your house with the mats and everything and then running yourself out? He said.

Andrew Symonds later remarked: “Marnus, you can see the disappointment there on his face, yeah it’s take his shoelaces off him sort of stuff.”

Labuschagne’s dismissal came at a crucial time just before the lunch break. After losing the toss Pakistan made the ball talk and David Warner was beaten a number of times before nicking off for 36.

Full credit must go to Pakistan for keeping the pressure on when Labuschagne came to the crease. The fact they kept him scoreless for eight balls was the reason he felt obliged to take a risky single despite lunch approaching.

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It’s a shame that Pakistan were so negative during the day but perhaps their tactics were designed to frustrate the Australians and make sure they didn’t get a decent total on Day 1.

The series is crying out for something dramatic to take place but on the first day’s evidence it might be another long slog for fans.

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