Australia are facing West Indies in the first game of the two-match Test Series in Perth. After winning the toss, Australian captain Pat Cummins elected to bat first. Aussies faced an early blow as David Warner was dismissed on five, but Usman Khawaja (65) and Marnus Labuschagne revived the innings, with a 142-run partnership for the second wicket. Labuschagne went on to score a magnificent 204 off 350 deliveries, getting involved in a 251-run stand with Steve Smith for the fourth wicket.
The 28-year-old remained unbeaten at the end of the first day and barely survived against a peach of a delivery by Jason Holder in the last over of the day’s play. The Windies all-rounder pitched the delivery on good length which shaped away perfectly beating the outside edge of Labuschagne’s bat. While the ball from Holder was top-notch in itself, the way the batter complimented him was rather amusing.
As Labuschagne was beaten on the delivery, he screamed, “Oh Jason that’s a delicious ball!” bringing a smile to Holder’s face. The commentators, too, couldn’t suppress a laugh at Labuschagne’s reaction.
Watch the video here:
"Oh Jason that's a delicious ball!" ? #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/bv7LxDHwqY
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 30, 2022
Labuschagne was eventually dismissed by captain Kraigg Brathwaite shortly after reaching his double century on Day 2. Steve Smith, meanwhile, also scored a century in the match as Australia further piled on the agony for West Indies.
Steve Smith equals Don Bradman
Australia had resumed the second day on 293-2 with Labuschagne on 154 and Smith on 59 with the West Indies desperate for a breakthrough in cloudy conditions conducive for swing bowling.
Instead, Labuschagne and Smith continued from where they left off overnight and took their team closer to a daunting total, taking the game away with each run.
Smith batted flawlessly to reach his 29th hundred and equal the legendary Don Bradman in his 88th Test appearance in the list of most hundreds scored by an Australian player in Tests. Only Ricky Ponting (41), Steve Waugh (32) and Matthew Hayden (30) have scored more hundreds for Australia. Labuschagne’s double century is his second since his 215 against New Zealand in Sydney in January 2020. He batted for 483 minutes and hit a six and 20 fours of 350 balls.
