Labuschagne leads Australia’s fight on rain-hit Day 1

Marnus Labuschagne batted out 120 balls for his unbeaten 44 to give Australia the edge on the topsy-turvy, rain-hit opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. As the overheads decided to alternate between bright sunshine and gloom, Pakistan bowlers’ inconsistency cost them as they could only manage three wickets by stumps, with 187 runs on the board for Australia.

Shan Masood’s success at the toss made way for Australia to bat first. But much to the chagrin of the visitors, sun shone brightly very soon after overcast conditions welcomed the two skippers at the toss. Pakistan still had an early window of opportunity with the new ball moving around but they didn’t make it count as they fluffed a straightforward chance that came their way as early as the third over. David Warner was expertly squared up by a Shaheen Afridi delivery but Abdullah Shafique dropped a sitter at slips. The grey clouds cleared out and the two Aussie openers got rather comfortable and began to pick quick runs after the drinks break.

They were all set to head to Lunch without any damage when, against the run of play, Agha Salman had Warner nicking to slip. This time there was no reprieve as Babar Azam completed the catch. When play resumed post Lunch, the gloomy conditions were back and batting became a struggle. With Khawaja departing early in the second session, Australia had two of their best grafters in the face of such adversity – Labuschagne and Steve Smith – to navigate past a period where the ball swung consistently and brought a densely-populated slip cordon into the game.

Shaheen Afridi kept the two batters on their toes but they too didn’t budge and perish to the pressures of the passage of play that saw them score just six runs off 57 balls since Khawaja’s exit. It looked like a reward for their tight bowling was round the corner for Pakistan, but what came instead was rain that ended the session early, with only 15.3 overs played in it.

When action finally resumed for the final session, the Pakistan quicks were in play again as they kept beating the outside edge of Smith’s bat. The former captain struggled as Aamer Jamal constantly tested his resolve with an outside offstump line, inviting him to drive. The ball that brought Smith’s wicket was closer to the off-stump as the Aussie batter looked to defend it after shuffling across. There wasn’t too much of an appeal from the keeper but Jamal was convinced and pushed Masood to take a review. That proved to be an excellent decision as replays showed a faint spike on the snickometer, sending Smith packing for a 75-ball 26.

Travis Head copped a full toss on his shoulder from Afridi and a ball – the very next one – that cut him in half and nearly took out the top of off-stump but the left-hander survived. He kept Labuschagne company for the next 8.1 overs till stumps. It was a day of missed opportunities for Pakistan as inconsistency from their pacers meant they only had three wickets to show for at the end of it.

Brief Scores:
Australia 187/3 in 66 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 44*, Usman Khawaja 42, David Warner 38, Steven Smith 26; Agha Salman 1-5) vs Pakistan

(Cricbuzz)