Labuschagne plays slowest Test knock for Australia, continues poor run in whites

Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne registered an unfortunate record to his name as he played the slowest knock by an Aussie batter in the history of Test cricket. Labuschagne registered this unfortunate record during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India at Perth's Optus Stadium on Friday. Though he was given an early lifeline after being dropped by Virat Kohli in the slips. However, he could not make most of it and scored just two runs in 52 balls before being dismissed by Mohammed Siraj.

His strike rate of 3.84 makes it Australia's slowest-ever Test knock, outdoing the bowler Steven O'Keefe, who batted 98 balls for four runs at a strike rate of 4.08 against Sri Lanka in 2016. This continues Marnus's poor run in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle as he has scored just 655 runs in 25 innings at an average of 28.47, with a century and five fifties in 13 matches. His best score is 111.

This year, Labuschagne has scored 242 runs in 11 innings at an average of 26.88, with three fifties in 11 innings and best score of 90. Since his last Test century in July last year, he has scored 349 runs in nine matches at a poor average of 23.26, with four fifties in 17 innings and best score of 90. Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost wickets at regular intervals, with KL Rahul (26 in 74 balls, with three fours) being the only batter in the top order who could survive for long.

Rishabh Pant (37 in 78 balls, with three fours and a six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 in 59 balls, with six fours and a six) put on an important 48-run stand that took India to 150/10. Josh Hazlewood was the top wicket-taker for the Aussies, taking 4/29. Skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Alex Carey got two each. Thanks to a four-wicket haul by Bumrah, Australia ended the day one struggling at 67/7. (ANI)