Labuschagne, Head post tons to power hosts to 330/3 on day 1

Adelaide : Marnus Labuschagne hit his third consecutive century while Travis Head continued also scored a ton to continue his red-hot run of form to power Australia to 330/3 at the end of the first day of the second Test against West Indies at Adelaide on Thursday.

At the end of the day’s play, Labuschagne (120*) and Head (114*) were unbeaten on the crease. Opting to bat first, Australia lost opener David Warner early for just 21 off 29 balls with four fours. The veteran continues his search for a big Test knock this year, having scored only 340 runs in 16 innings with two fifties at an average of just over 22. The southpaw nicked an Alzarri Joseph delivery to wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva. Australia was 34/1.

Following this, Usman Khawaja came to the crease. The batter struck some fine fours in his 129-ball knock of 62 that included nine boundaries. He formed a 95-run stand for the second wicket with Labuschagne, but a delivery by Devon Thomas trapped him leg before wicket. He was given out on basis of umpire’s call despite the ball clipping outside of the leg stump.

This brought Steve Smith to the crease, with fans looking for another gigantic stand between these two batters, who often tore apart bowlers together previously. But all-rounder Jason Holder caught and bowled him, sending him back after an eight-ball duck, his fifth in Tests.

The hometown hero Head was on the crease next with Aussies at 131/3. Head and Labuschagne tore Windies bowling attack apart, with some elegant hitting. Both batters found gaps at will and brought up their centuries.

Labuschagne joined Warner in an elite company, with both players being the only ones to post centuries in three consecutive innings on two occasions. The recently-crowned number-one Test batter had done so against Pakistan in 2019.

At the end of day’s play, both had stitched a stand of 199 runs for the fourth wicket.

Thomas, Joseph and Holder got one wicket each.

Brief Scores: Australia: 330/3 (Marnus Labuschagne 120*, Travis Head 114*, Jason Holder 1/42) against West Indies.