Brisbane: Marnus Labuschagne’s 108 was the cornerstone of Australia’s 274 for 5 at stumps on the opening day of fourth and final Test against India here on Friday.
The hosts were reduced to 17 for 2 after opting to bat on a bouncy and batting wicket but recovered later, thanks mainly to Labuschagne.
At stumps, captain Tim Paine and Cameron Green were batting on 38 and 28 respectively.
Labuschagne’s 204-ball knock had nine boundaries. He was dropped on 37 by Ajinkya Rahane off the bowling of Navdeep Saini.
The Australians scored runs at a fair clip in the second session after they were 65 for 2 at lunch, with Labuschagne going great guns. The hosts added 89 runs from 27 overs and lost just one wicket in that session.
But India made a comeback in the final session, with debutant T Natarajan getting rid of Labuschagne and Matthew Wade (45) in the space of two overs after the duo had stitched 113 runs for the fourth wicket.
The other debutant Washington Sundar got rid of the dangerous Steve Smith (36) for his first Test wicket.
Brief Scores:
Australia: 274 for 5 in 87 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 108; Matthew Wade 45; T Natarajan 2/63).
