Proteas furious as Marnus survives review

South Africa have been left furious after Marnus Labuschagne narrowly survived an umpire review for caught behind on day one of the third Test.

The top-ranked Test batter in the world, Labuschagne had managed low scores of 14, 11 and 5no earlier in the series but sped past 50 runs after lunch when the Proteas gave the dangerous Anrich Nortje and Simon Harmer a rest.

Nothing appeared to be stopping Labuschagne. He belted five fours across three overs as Australia well and truly recovered from the early loss of David Warner (10).

But South Africa appeared to have the breakthrough they were after when Labuschagne edged a Marco Jansen delivery to Harmer, who took a low grab in the slips with the Queenslander on 70 runs.

Labuschagne refused to budge, though, and umpire Paul Reiffel gave the soft signal of out as he sent the catch for review.

Third umpire Richard Kettleborough examined several replays, which left Labuschagne visibly frustrated. He eventually walked back to his crease, ready to face the next ball.

Eventually, the third umpire was satisfied there was enough evidence to overturn the soft signal, determining Labuschagne would stay as the ball had touched the grass before Harmer caught it.

“It’s a tough call,” former Test umpire Simon Taufel told Channel 7.

“I can understand why South Africa might feel a bit hard done by there.”

Taufel said the ICC had recently amended its third umpire protocols to give less sway to the umpire’s soft signal.

“The soft signal in this particular case with a fair catch would carry less weight. Only if the TV replays were inconclusive or poor, or non-existent (would it carry weight),” he said.

“So, Richard really had a tough job with that one, particularly because the camber of the ground slopes away.”

Proteas captain Dean Elgar remonstrated with umpire Chris Gaffaney, clearly aware of the significance of Labuschagne remaining in the middle; the Australian averages 85.42 at the SCG, his highest return at any ground where he has played at least three Tests.

Tongue-in-cheek, Nortje signalled for a DRS review of the third umpire’s decision.

When bad light stopped play at 2.15pm (AEDT), Labuschagne was unbeaten on 73 while his batting partner Usman Khawaja had managed 51.