The third and final Pink Ball Test between Australia and South Africa is underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The series has been quite one-sided, as Australia have won two games of the three-match test series.
In the series finale, Australia decided to bat first but couldn’t start well as they lost their premiere opener, David Warner, early on, who, in the last game, scored an unbeaten 200. But experienced Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khwaja got hold of the situation and helped Australia reach the score of 138/1 in 43 overs until the rain stopped the play.
During the partnership between Khwaja and Labuschagne, a strange incident took place. Labuschagne was having some trouble with his helmet, as the loose fragments inside the helmet were affecting his sight of vision, and so to repair it, he asked for a cigarette lighter. At first, the weird gesture by Labuschagne made everyone curious, but after watching the batter repair his helmet, all the spectators, including the commentators, burst into laughter.
Here’s the video:
Running repairs for Marnus Labuschagne! 🚬#AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/IdSl0PqicV
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2023
Apart from this, Labuschagne continuing his form, batted efficiently and scored a half-century against the proteas. He had a close call when he edged a ball by Marco Jansen to the slip fielder but was given not out by the third umpire. It was a testing inning for the world’s no. 1 test batter against a quality pace attack. He went not out at 73 when rain halted the play. On the other hand, Khwaja, also maintaining his dominance at the Sydney Cricket Ground, scored 51 not out.
This test match for South Africa, who are already 0-2 down, is a do-or-die game. If they lose it, they’ll be knocked out of the World Test Championship (WTC) final race. Meanwhile, under Pat Cummins’s captaincy, Australia have been performing exceptionally well and is currently at the top of the WTC points table. Upon winning the ongoing test at the SCG, Australia will qualify for WTC Final.
