Aussies lay foundation before weather halts day one

The annoyance South Africa felt upon falling foul of a disputed slips catch off Marnus Labuschagne was exceeded only by the frustrations inflicted by Sydney's traditional new year damp that restricted day one of the third NRMA Insurance Test to just 47 of a scheduled 90 overs.

Under a persistent blanket of thick cloud that made poor light more problematic than occasional showers, Australia absorbed early pressure then made steady progress before the late removal of Labuschagne left them 2-147 when stumps were drawn at 5.50pm.

Usman Khawaja's enduring fondness for the SCG will continue tomorrow when he resumes unbeaten on 54, alongside Steve Smith (yet to face a ball) with Australia's batting line-up facing the prospect of an illness-related reshuffle.

The visitors might have felt a belated sense of justice when Labuschagne fell to an Anrich Nortje 145kph thunderbolt that grazed the outside edge of his bat one ball before umpires decreed it was too dark for batters to be confronted by fast bowlers.

While it was a tough call for Australia's number three who appeared set for his fourth century of another stunning Test summer – but the first against the country of his birth – the late strike salved some of the simmering anger among the Proteas.

The cause of that unrest was the disputed catch that came when Labuschagne reached 70, and edged a delivery from left-armer Marco Jansen low to Simon Harmer standing deep at slip who claimed it low to the ground but clearly of the view he had clasped it cleanly.

Despite on-field umpire Paul Reiffel signalling his belief it was a fair catch when calling for off-field clarification, third official Richard Kettleborough undertook a painstaking review before settling on a single video frame he believed showed the ball had touched the ground as the catch was completed.

While scarcely a smoking gun, it was sufficient for Kettleborough to overturn the on-field verdict to the undisguised anger of South Africa with keeper Kyle Verreynne and opener Sarel Erwee engaging in a lengthy and spirited discussion with Labuschagne before he resumed his innings.

In his defence, Labuschagne was equally adamant from the outset he was not out and felt vindicated by the final ruling.

But the continued deterioration of the afternoon light, then the onset of rain shortly before 3pm meant both teams had more than two hours to stew on the incident prior to Labuschagne resuming an innings that until that controversial moment had produced barely a false stroke.

No sooner had Labuschagne trudged disconsolately from the field amid gathering gloom, to be replaced at the crease by Smith, umpires upheld the observation aired several times during the day by Khawaja that conditions were too gloomy and play was halted for the day.

As it transpired, the barely 200 minutes of playing time threw up more than its share of talking points.

Matthew Renshaw's return to Test ranks after a hiatus of almost five years proved bittersweet as the Queenslander returned a positive COVID-19 result shortly after play began and spent the day distanced from fellow players, officials and the 31,264 fans although he remains involved in the match.

Renshaw was one of three changes to Australia's starting XI from last week, along with spin-bowling allrounder Ashton Agar and seamer Josh Hazlewood replacing injured duo Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green while Scott Boland was omitted.

Image Id: 7B471E026C3B44918AF3C0FD687A27F6 Image Caption: Renshaw sat away from teammates in the SCG dugout // Getty

South Africa also fielded a revamped XI, although the inclusions of Heinrich Klaasen (in place of No.3 Theunis de Bruyn who has returned home for family reasons) and off-spinner Harmer (for seamer Lungi Ngidi) did little to revise their on-field fortunes.

In addition to inciting ire, Labuschagne had raised eyebrows prior to the day's first drinks break when he gave the impression he was in desperate need of a smoke as he signalled frantically to the Australia dressing room for a cigarette and/or a lighter to go with it.

When the break was taken, it was revealed the need for a naked flame was to cauterise some errant threads that had appeared within his protective batting helmet.

With the on-the-run fix completed, Labuschagne turned up the heat on South Africa's bowlers.

Having taken 45 minutes (and 31 deliveries) to post six runs, the 28-year-old found his groove and overtook Khawaja as the pair went to lunch unbeaten on 30 and 25 respectively.

The Proteas were delighted to have Khawaja given out lbw immediately after the break, then bemused when that decision by Richard Gaffaney was overturned just as quickly on review.

Khawaja then celebrated the reprieve by posting his 4000th Test run courtesy of a suitably sumptuous drive to the cover boundary.

At age 36 years and 17 days, the left-hander becomes the most senior Australia men's player to reach that milestone, overtaking his former Test teammate Michael Hussey who reached the benchmark aged 35 years and 130 days.

It completes a remarkable renaissance for Khawaja who has plundered 1130 runs at an average of 75 per innings since being recalled to the Australia Test team for the corresponding Sydney Test a year ago.

The former New South Welshman also relished his return to his former home ground where he averages 107, with only England's Walter Hammond (161) and India maestro Sachin Tendulkar (157) boasting a better median among those to have batted five or more times in Tests at the venue.

He and Labuschagne were batting with increasing fluency against spinners Keshav Maharaj and Harmer in the hour after lunch, posting their 100-run partnership for the second wicket in the 37th over.

But as the heavy clouds rolled in and the visitors' heavy artillery was rolled out, Labuschagne endured a rare moment of angst when Rabada fired a short ball at his upper body causing the right-hander to take urgent evasive action.

The Proteas initially felt the ball that looped into the gloves of keeper Verreynne had flown from Labuschagne's gloves, but wisely opted not to refer the not out decision given replays confirmed it had brushed the batter's chest not far from his throat.

Image Id: 48146C2AC5364D5C8BE7B6DD5EDC1D27 Image Caption: Umpires Chris Gaffaney (right) and Paul Reiffel assess the SCG light conditions // Getty

The sense of grievance South Africa increasingly felt could justifiably have begun to ferment before a ball was bowled today after Dean Elgar called incorrectly at the coin toss for the third consecutive Test.

In addition to completing a remarkable clean sweep of successes for Pat Cummins across five matches of the NRMA Insurance Tests this summer, it robbed the tourists of their preferred option to bat first and belatedly make the running in a match.

The setback didn't seem quite so severe when David Warner, double-century maker and player of the match last week in Melbourne, perished in the fourth over as he looked to immediately resume the attack he had taken to the Proteas bowlers at the MCG.

Having flayed a couple of trademark boundaries – an upper cut behind point followed by a swivel pull, both from the bowling of Rabada – Warner tried once too often to force the pace and paid the price.

The ball from Nortje he attempted to muscle through the off-side was too full and a touch too close to him for the aggressive option and the sharp offering to slip was made to look straightforward by 207cm Jansen who clutched it at chin height.

In the immediate aftermath of Warner's removal, it became clear the slow but not low Sydney pitch offered a surface that required circumspection.

That was certainly the approach adopted by Khawaja and Labuschagne for much of the remainder of the opening session, with just 31 runs coming from the 16 overs after the opener's dismissal.

The catalyst to up the tempo was the introduction of left-arm spinner Maharaj half an hour before the lunch break.

Australia have made it clear from the series start in Brisbane last month that Maharaj would be the bowler in the Proteas' line-up they look to target, and he didn't help his cause by beginning with a shin-high full-toss that Khawaja duly dispatched to the extra cover boundary.

Despite being reaffirmed as South Africa's premier spinner by Elgar prior to this Test, Maharaj began his spell with series figures of 0-152 which had blown out to 0-187 by stumps.

The last bowler to visit Australia and be involved in three Tests, sending down more than Maharaj's current 52.5 overs without claiming wicket was fellow South African finger spinner David Pithey on the 1963-64 tour in which he was dropped for the final two matches.

By contrast, second-string spinner Harmer looked threatening from his opening over with the third delivery he sent down – his third in Test cricket since the middle of last year – fizzing past the outside edge of Khawaja's speculative bat.

And in his first over after the break, Harmer had Khawaja adjudged lbw when he seemingly failed to make contact with an ambitious reverse-sweep only for the batter's instant call for DRS adjudication revealing the ball had brushed glove before making impact with pad.

As South Africa rued such a short-lived success, Australia's set pair went on the charge and rattled on 26 runs from six overs at odds with the pace of the opening session, prompting Elgar to reinstate the seamers.

That did little to slow the scoring rate, with Labuschagne helping himself to a pair of boundaries from Rabada's first over, the second of which yielded the Australia number three's 24th half-century in Tests, 10 of which he had also converted into centuries.

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

First Test: Australia won by six wickets

Second Test: Australia won by an innings and 182 runs

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, David Warner

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo

Buy #AUSvSA Test tickets here