Labuschagne leads way as Aussies dominate opening day

For all the pre-game talk of fire and fury lurking in the Perth pitch, it was bat that brutally dominated ball as Marnus Labuschagne's century underpinned Australia's imposing 2-293 to start the NRMA Insurance Test Series against West Indies.

Labuschagne resumes on 154no tomorrow, the fourth-highest tally of his remarkable Test match career to date, eyeing his second double-century having peeled off 215 against New Zealand at the SCG three summers ago.

But perhaps even more daunting for a West Indies outfit that appeared flat and frustrated by day's end, Steve Smith was living up to recent claims he's rediscovered his best batting form in reaching 59no from 107 balls faced, despite requiring on-field treatment for a back complaint.

The pair's unbeaten 142-run stand for the third wicket followed a union of the same scope between Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja (65) for the second wicket, with Labuschagne the common factor in both partnerships.

The 28-year-old celebrated his second century at Perth Stadium – which is only hosting its third Test – by raising his bat before his 100th run had been completed, followed immediately by a more elaborate arms-aloft acknowledgement as the ball rolled to the boundary rope.

It was one of 16 boundaries the right-hander posted in his 270-ball stay, as well as a towering six over backward square leg as the tidy bowling efforts the West Indies had managed for much of the first two sessions turned ragged in the final two hours.

Labuschagne offered only one genuine chance (on 132) – an edge that struck keeper Joshua da Silva's thigh from skipper Kraigg Brathwaite's sole over of round-arm spin – although he almost holed out to deep backward point four runs later.

But apart from those lapses, a couple of lbw shouts by Kemar Roach in the opening hour, and a near-miss when Roach returned shortly before tea, Labuschagne was in control on a pitch that is expected to exhibit more of its predicted pace and bounce as play progresses tomorrow.

If that's the case, Australia has a huge opportunity to turn their overnight score into a formidable total with a wealth of batting to come and their unbeaten pair still hungry for runs.

Labuschagne's knock was a study in Test match batting, as he watchfully declined to play a large percentage of balls when the pitch and bowlers were freshest this morning before blossoming into an increasingly exotic range of stroke as conditions flattened and opponents fatigued.

His first 50 came from 112 deliveries and included six boundaries, but it took just 80 more balls to post his eighth Test ton at which point he and Smith upped the tempo even further.

Image Id: 15B023F9975145BE815B4A4F71CFD284 Image Caption: Smith pounced on anything too short on day one // Getty

The pair piled on 78 from 16 overs immediately after tea against a tiring West Indian attack that had tried everything earlier in the day – they deployed six bowlers in the opening two-hour session – but was clearly bereft of inspiration as shadows lengthened and the second new ball beckoned.

Their frustration was doubtless compounded by the preceding two sessions when they largely kept the pressure on Australia's batters with tidy if not often threatening bowling, but could only cite two wickets for their worthy efforts.

Labuschagne and Khawaja had provided the initial stumbling block with their 142-run stand for the second wicket, of which Khawaja contributed 65 to continue his extraordinary run of form for a year he started outside of Australia's Test XI.

Khawaja's 2022 tally now stands at 953 runs (from 14 innings) at an average of 95.3.

With a possible seven further Test knocks before new year rolls around, he is odds-on to overtake England pair Jonny Bairstow (1061 at 66.31) and Joe Root (973 at 51.21) at the top of the calendar year runs scorers.

Despite the pitch's decidedly green tinge and pre-game hype around a return to the characteristics of WACA Ground tracks in the fast-bowling heyday, the West Indies would have batted first had the coin landed in Brathwaite's favour.

That would have ensured a fiery baptism for debutant opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul who received his Test cap from former West Indies captain Brian Lara, who noted in his speech he had been part of the team when Chanderpaul's father (Shivnarine) debuted against England at Guyana in 1994.

The previous father-son combination to represent the collective of Caribbean nations was Everton Weekes and David Murray, with Murray's passing earlier this week recognised by the current team who donned black armbands today.

For all the detailed planning and disciplined execution from a majority of the West Indies attack across the opening session and a bit, it was pure batter error that yielded their only success in the first half of day one.

It came in the fourth over when Jayden Seales angled a delivery so wide of David Warner the Australia opener found himself taking a knee for the second time in 20 minutes as he tried to flay a drive through cover.

But in over-reaching to make contact, Warner managed only to somehow drag the ball onto his leg stump which was uprooted leaving the left-hander with head thrown back in disbelief at his misfortune.

It also extended his stretch of Test outings without a century to almost three years, his most recent coming against New Zealand at the SCG in January 2020.

The ensuing struggle against the 'tennis ball' bounce on the well-grassed pitch were exemplified by the pace at which the Khawaja-Labuschagne partnership proceded.

The pair took almost 23 overs to post their 50 stand, and by lunch had advanced Australia's score to a cautious 1-72.

It would have been significantly fewer had Brathwaite not opted for four overs of Roston Chase's off-spin, which cost 23 runs in stark contrast to the scoring rate of less than two per over off the seamers.

Among the most parsimonious of the pace attack was Kyle Mayers whose figures of 0-7 from four overs belied the gentle nature of the medium-pacers he sent down at barely 120kph.

Mayers' ability to find subtle movement off the day one surface also ensured he seemed the most likely to secure a second breakthrough as Australia's second-wicket pair settled in, so it was surprising he did not return to the attack until late in the afternoon session.

By that stage Chase's figures had blown out to 0-42 from nine overs, including an imperious six over long-off that carried Khawaja to his eighth Test score of 50 or more for 2022.

And to further underscore the misjudgement of preferring spin to seam, Mayers struck with the first delivery he sent down which came 28 overs into the second session.

Operating around the wicket to Khawaja, he lured the left-hander forward with a ball angled into him and found a fine edge as it seamed slightly away off the pitch.

It was a wicket hewn against the run of play, and Brathwaite immediately went on the attack by recalling his spearhead Roach and re-stocking the slips cordon in the hope of snaring another in the half-hour before tea.

The ploy almost worked, as Labuschagne atypically flashed at a ball from Roach that flew past the outstretched fingertips of Jason Holder at second slip, and then twice more in that same over was beaten by textbook leg cutters.

But Labuschagne survived, noting as he left the field for the tea break the pitch was gradually playing quicker and truer.

That was borne out in the final session, as he posted his century and with Smith setting about turning Australia's start of solidity into a position of dominance. 

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas

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