It has been a wonderful day of cricket for the home team after opting to bat first in the first Test match against West Indies at the Perth Stadium in Perth. Barring the wicket of opener David Warner cheaply, Australia displayed complete dominance on the field in their own backyard.
Image Credits: Cricket Australia |
The unbeaten 142*-run stand for the third wicket between Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith has been the highlight of the day's play. Looking at their partnership, they have the best chance to go big on the second day to give them a great advantage in this Test match. At stumps on Day 1, Lubuschagne was unbeaten on 154* while Smith was batting on 59*.
After losing Warner cheaply for just 11 runs off Jayden Seales's bowling, Usman Khawaja and Labuschagne laid the foundation for the second wicket with a 142-run partnership. Labuschagne contributed 75 runs in that 2nd wicket stand while Khawaja contributed 61 runs before being dismissed on 65 by Kyle Mayers!
While the experienced bowlers failed to bag a wicket, Seales and Mayers showed a lot of promise with the ball striking at crucial moments. However, the Windies bowlers need to work a lot on the second day to restrict Australia anywhere below the 500-run mark.
Labuschagne continued his merry run with the bat in the longer format scoring his 8th century and his 4th 150+ score in Tests. His 215 against New Zealand in Sydney 2020 was his best Test score and he now holds a better chance to beat that score in this ongoing first innings in Perth. Incidentally, Seven of his overall Test centuries at this point were scored at the home venues though! His only away Test century was scored in Galle earlier this year in July.
Brief Scores: Australia - 293-2 in 90 overs (Marnus Labuschagne - 159*, Usman Khawaja - 65, Kyle Mayers - 1-24, Jayden Seales - 1-63) in the first innings after opting to bat first.
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