Ind vs Aus 3rd Test – Marnus Labuschagne on 67*, will Australia get their 1st centurion against India in 4 years? : In signs ominous for India and encouraging for Australia, the beleaguered Steve Smith looked dangerous and his understudy Marnus Labuschagne struck an unbeaten half-century as the hosts reached 166 for two on a rain-marred opening day of the third Test in Syndey.
At stumps, Labuschagne was unbeaten on 67 and Smith, after his uncharacteristic run of low scores so far, seemed out of the woods with 31 confident runs, which included five authoritative boundaries. Labuschagne found the fence eight times.
Notably, if Labuschagne continues his great form and completes his ton in the ongoing Test then he will become the first Australian to hit a Test century ton against India in four years.
Ind vs Aus 3rd Test: 13 Australian batsmen and no 100 since 2017
Interestingly, the Men Down Under have not hit a single hundred against India since 2017. The last batsman to do so was Steve Smith who 111 runs in Dharamshala in March 2017.
Since then, six Tests have been played between the two sides, and 13 different batsmen or all-rounders have tried to break the unimpressive record. The closest to finally end the hundred drought was Marcus Harris in Sydney in January 2019 when he scored 79. Also, only Harris (36.85) and Labuschagne (33.40) have an average of over 30 runs.
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On the other hand, Indian batsmen have six hundreds to their credit in the same time frame. Cheteshwar Pujara is the frontrunner with three tons. Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, have one each.
Talking about the ongoing series, then Australia skipper Tim Paine’s 73* in the first Test in Adelaide has been the highest individual score for the Aussies, while Ajinkya Rahane’s 112 in the second Test is the highest score by an Indian so far in the four-match Test series.