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Australia vs West Indies: Ton up Labuschagne and Head help hosts post 330/3 on Day 1 in Adelaide

Australia started the second Test against West Indies on a dominant note as Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head slammed tons at the Adelaide Oval. The hosts reached 330/3 at stumps on Day 1.

marnus labuschagne slams

Adelaide, Dec 8: Australia dominated the opening day of the second Test against West Indies here at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (December 8), courtesy of centuries from in-form Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head. At stumps on Day 1, the hosts racked up 330-3 at the close of play.

Labuschagne - who sits at the top of the ICC batting rankings - put on a show as he reached 120 not out, while local lad Head joined him on three figures later in the day, finishing up on an unbeaten 114 at stumps.

They shared in a fourth-wicket partnership worth 199 and will resume on Friday (December 9) looking to bat West Indies out of the match.

10th Test Century for Labuschagne

For Labuschagne, it was the third consecutive century and the tenth of his Test career. He notched up his ton when he cracked a boundary square of the wicket.

He was the more watchful of the hundred-makers, with Head more upfront about his intentions, getting stuck into a mostly blunt West Indies attack and reaching three figures in just 125 balls, some 61 fewer than Labuschagne needed to reach his ton.

After making 204 and 104no in the first Test, Labuschagne again mastered the West Indies attack. He came in at number three and shared in a stand of 95 with Usman Khawaja, who fell lbw to Devon Thomas for 62 to leave Australia 129-2 during the afternoon.

west indies

That soon became 131-3 when stand-in captain Steve Smith went for a duck, caught and bowled by Jason Holder, but from that point on it was all one way in Australia's favour.

Head gets past nervous 90s this time

For Head, getting the job done brought obvious relief, after he was dismissed for 99 in the first match of the series in Perth. He brought up this century with a drive through mid-off for four, removing his helmet and waving to the Adelaide Oval crowd. Born in the South Australia city, this is his home ground and the century earned him the warmest of ovations.

Better late than never for Thomas

At the ripe cricketing age of 33, Thomas is a Test wicket-taker for the first time. A wicketkeeper by trade, he is not wearing the gloves in this game, his Test debut. With West Indies seeking to break the second-wicket alliance, Thomas was given a try with the ball by West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and made the breakthrough.

Thomas made his international debut in the limited-overs formats all the way back in 2009, and lately he has been a familiar face in their T20I side, but this is his first opportunity in the five-day game. He was the seventh bowler used by West Indies on Thursday, finishing the day with 1-43 from nine overs.

Labuschagne does it again

Ten centuries in a batter's 30 Tests is great going by anyone's standards, so hats off to Labuschagne. Taking into account the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle back in July, Labuschagne has made tons in four of his last five innings and his average has shot up to 61.81. He is 33 runs short of reaching 3,000 Test runs, which will be a target for day two.

(With Inputs from OPTA)

Story first published: Thursday, December 8, 2022, 19:33 [IST]
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