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Match Report:

Scorecard

Marnus shines but injury-hit India take fight to Australia

Captain Paine and rookie Green see hosts to stumps after Saini limps off to leave tourists another pace bowler down in Brisbane

After three Tests of incrementally increasing frustration, Marnus Labuschagne broke through for his first century of the summer but Australia remained unable to shake an India attack that showed spirit belying their lack of experience.

Rocked by the loss of strike bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal strain) and Ravichandran Ashwin (back spasms) prior to the start of play and consigned to the field at the coin toss, India struck early and late on day one to restrict Australia to 5-274 at stumps on their favourite home patch.

It was only a solid and occasionally fluent 108 from Labuschagne that prevented Australia from a batting embarrassment given the disparate playing records of the respective teams.

Labuschagne lights up Gabba with delightful 108

Having found frustrating ways to get out when set in the previous three Tests – where his contributions have been 47, 6, 48, 28, 91 and 73 – Labuschagne's relief at reaching triple-figures on his home ground was obvious as he let out a hearty roar on completing his 100th run.

His fifth century in 18 Tests, and his second on his home ground, arrived just as Australia were looking to cash in against a wearying opponent.

But within three overs of Labuschagne reaching his deserved milestone, he and Matthew Wade (with whom he forged a fourth-wicket partnership of 113) both fell to top-edged pull shots against debutant Thangarasu Natarajan.

Labuschagne was Natarajan's first international wicket in his maiden ODI outing for India at Canberra last December, and now enters history as his initial Test victim.

Wade went for 45 to the third skied catch he's presented in as many innings, which was accepted by Shardul Thakur running in from mid-on as two other fielders converged with a collision mercifully averted given India shelled three other crucial chances during the day.

The last of those was a sharp caught-and-bowled offered by Cameron Green when on 19, and he will resume 28no tomorrow morning with skipper Tim Paine 38no as India's green-horn bowlers re-gather themselves with a ball just six overs old.

Australia went into the final Vodafone Test, which they must win to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with a personnel aggregate of 504 matches, 23,767 runs and 1,046 wickets.

By contrast, India weighed in at less than half as many Tests (215), almost 10,000 fewer runs (14,814) and barely one per cent of the wickets tally (13).

Yet, with two new caps and three other seamers boasting four Tests between them, India kept Australia to their lowest day-one total at the Gabba after winning the toss and batting since the start of the 2013-14 Ashes Series when they posted 8-273.

Marnus's moment! Prolific No3 brings up another ton

In the absence of injured seamers Bumrah, Mohammed Shami (fractured arm), Umesh Yadav (calf strain), Ishant Sharma (side strain) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh) as well as spinners Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja (dislocated thumb), India's third-string attack proved more than a match.

However, they seem likely to be another player short for the remainder of the Test, which they must at least draw to retain the Trophy they have held since 2017, with their fastest bowler Navdeep Saini forced from the field today with a groin injury.

As was the case in Australia's first innings of the series at Adelaide, and when he appeared on track for a century at the SCG last week, Labuschagne was a beneficiary of India's fielding lapses.

Today, he was dropped on 37 and again on 48 before India's novice bowling attack began wilting in the mid-afternoon heat and the Queenslander's hundred came from 195 balls after four-and-a-half hours at the crease.

The second of those reprieves was a thin edge from left-armer Natarajan then searching for his first wicket, which eluded him as keeper Pant dived over the catch to his right and first slip Cheteshwar Pujara was unable to claw it low to his left.

But the one that preceded it was far more straightforward, and significantly more costly.

Not only was the catch that flew from the shoulder of Labuschagne's bat to stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane at gully straightforward at any level of cricket – Rahane didn't have to move as it slapped into both hands at shoulder height to his left – it triggered a chain of events.

Initially, it seemed the look of pain on Saini's face as the ball hit the turf was despair at the squandering of his fifth Test scalp, having made his debut last week in Sydney.

But it soon became obvious the effort Saini had exerted in getting the ball to leap at Labuschagne from the dry, hard Gabba surface had done him a mischief, and he clutched at his left groin before collapsing to the ground.

The 28-year-old received treatment pitch-side from medical staff before being escorted from the field and, having attempted to return to the action after a drinks break 15 minutes later, he was unable to continue and limped back to the dressing room.

He was taken for scans later in the day with the results expected to be known tomorrow.

From the time Rahane dropped Labuschagne, it seemed India's inexperienced attack similarly let slip their bundle.

Australia were 3-93 and reeling from the loss of their best batter Steve Smith (36) to debutant spinner Washington Sundar against the run of play when Labuschagne's lapse arrived.

Debutant removes Smith before he'd conceded a run

A double-breakthrough at that stage would not only have removed Australia's most consistent scorer of the Vodafone Series but brought together two fresh batters, Wade (who has struggled for runs in recent innings) and rookie allrounder Green, still finding his feet at Test level.

It would also have piled pressure on the home team who were tipped to make hay on a Gabba pitch that many experts claimed more closely resembled a day two or three strip with a decided lack of moisture despite Queensland having been subjected to biblical rains over past weeks.

Against a rival bowling attack made up of bowlers classified as either white-ball specialists or net bowlers selected to provide practice for India's batters and respite for the first-choice quicks, the home team was tipped to dominate.

Especially after Paine won his third consecutive coin toss to gain first use of the atypical pitch, even though the skippers successful with the coin so far in the Vodafone Series had emerged without a win in any of the three previous Tests.

But within an hour of play starting under sunny skies and typical humidity, Australia were being bossed by the B-team as the new opening combination of David Warner and Marcus Harris failed to fire.

Warner fell in the first over of the morning from Mohammed Siraj – in his third Test and thereby the most experienced member of the visitors' bowling outfit – in similar fashion to his demise in his return innings at Sydney a week earlier.

The left-hander pushed at a delivery angled across him with feet anchored, perhaps an enduring legacy of the serious groin tear he suffered earlier in the summer, and edged low to the right of second slip where Rohit Sharma swooped on the hot chance.

Half an hour later, Marcus Harris presented Thakur with a moment he'll always remember but the recalled Australia opener will be keen to forget.

In his Test debut against the West Indies at Hyderabad two years ago, Thakur managed just 10 deliveries before he limped from the field and out of the match with a groin injury.

Today, his first ball of the game swung into left-hander Harris at a gentle pace of barely 130kph and the opener – seemingly in a hurry to dispatch it – pushed hard in front of his body and scooped a chest-high catch to Sundar, who had been stationed at forward square leg for precisely that shot.

At 2-17, Australia had made their worst start to a Test innings at the Gabba since they crashed to 2-16 against an infinitely more renowned and recognisable West Indies attack in 1988 – the last time the hosts had tasted defeat in Brisbane.

By lunch, the early wobble had been corrected as Labuschagne and Smith consolidated without dominating and lifted the total to 2-65.

Smith had appeared untroubled despite arriving at the crease with the ball just 8.1 overs old, and outscored Labuschagne in the initial stages of their 70-run partnership.

And while Smith habitually gives the impression he can't believe how he's lost his wicket, today's dismissal provided reasonable grounds for incredulity.

He could certainly not plead unfamiliarity with Sundar's off-spin given the pair were teammates at IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiant a few years ago, and the ex-Australia captain had faced two of the three maidens his 21-year-old rival sent down prior to lunch.

Sundar's first ball after the break was invitingly flighted and landed on almost half-volley length adjacent to Smith's leg stump from where the ICC Test Player of the Decade flicked it directly into the hands of Rohit at midwicket.

Suddenly, against all expectations and considerable odds, India's auxiliary bowling group was on top and with Labuschagne looming as the obvious obstacle to an unlikely day of dominance.

He then proved one of the few hurdles this remarkable India outfit have been unable to overcome.

Australia XI: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c & wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: India won by eight wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT