Brutal twist as ‘absolute peach’ rocks Marnus ONE ball before early stumps: SCG Test Day 1 wrap

Sydney’s rain was public enemy No. 1 at the SCG on Wednesday afternoon, with weather and bad light infuriating fans and players on day one of the New Year’s Test between Australia and South Africa.

Cricket’s archaic rules were a source of immense frustration for Sydney’s spectators, thousands of which whipped out their phones and shone the flash from the stands to assist with lighting.

Marnus Labuschagne would have been kicking himself in the sheds when play was suspended for bad light moments after Proteas quick Anrich Nortje dismissed him for 79 in the evening session.

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The hosts, who are hunting a 3-0 series whitewash over the Proteas, were 2-147 at stumps, with Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith unbeaten at the crease on 54 and 0 respectively.

Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss for a fifth consecutive Test and elected to bat first in Sydney. Both sides named two strike spinners in their starting XI, with Ashton Agar and Simon Harmer making their debut appearance of the series.

The opening session of the New Year’s Test was marred by news that Matthew Renshaw had tested positive to Covid-19. The Queenslander stood apart from his teammates during the national anthem and sat in a plastic chair away from the team dugout.

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David Warner’s first delivery of the year was punched through point for a boundary, but when the veteran opener attempted a similar stroke against Anrich Nortje a couple of overs later, he edged the ball through to Marco Jansen at first slip, gone for 10.

South Africa’s seamers were disciplined in the morning session, restricting Australia to a scoring rate of under two runs per over during the first hour of play.

The introduction of spin backfired, with Khawaja smacking Keshav Maharaj’s first delivery of the Test through the covers for a bouncer. However, Harmer unearthed some early turn, getting his third delivery to grip off the surface and beat Khawaja’s outside edge.

Khawaja and Labuschagne, whose pull shot looked impeccable throughout the morning session, brought up their 50-run partnership moments before the lunch break. 

Harmer thought he had snared a breakthrough with his second delivery after lunch when Khawaja mistimed a reverse sweep and was given out LBW, only for the left-hander to review the decision with replays showing the ball had scraped his glove.

The 36-year-old brought up 4000 Test runs soon after, with Labuschagne passing fifty with a powerful pull shot off Kagiso Rabada.

South Africa’s bowling became increasingly erratic after the second-wicket partnership reached triple figures, but Jansen finally found Labuschagne’s outside edge in the 40th over, with Harmer claiming a low catch in the slip cordon.

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However, the on-field umpires sent the decision upstairs, and third umpire Richard Kettleborough decided there was enough evidence to conclude the ball had bounced after consulting footage for several minutes.

Khawaja brought up his half-century the following over before bad light stopped play at 2.15pm, and tea was called when the heavens opened up not long after.

Play was scheduled to resume at 3.45pm, but there were further delays after umpires deemed it to be too dark.

The action finally resumed at 4.45pm, and Labuschagne’s luck ran out when Nortje got a delivery to seam viciously off the deck, edging behind to the wicketkeeper. Adam Gilchrist called it a “ferocious delivery”, while Kerry O’Keeffe said it was an “absolute pearler”.To rub salt into the wounds, players once again retired for bad light immediately after Labuschagne’s dismissal, ultimately the final delivery of the day.

Day two gets underway on Thursday morning with the first ball scheduled for 10am AEDT.

Australia XI:David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

South Africa XI: Dean Elgar (c) Sarel Erwee, Heinrich Klaasen, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje

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