AUS vs IND 4th Test: India Hang On Despite Labuschagne Ton On Day 1 (Match Report)

Marnus Labuschagne on Friday once again lived a charmed life as he went on to score a brilliant hundred to help Australia have a slight edge over India on Day One of the fourth and final Test at The G

However, Labuschagne and Smith took control over the innings and stitched a useful partnership as Australia went into the Lunch break without losing any further wickets.

Resuming the second session at 65/2, both Smith and Labuschagne scored freely and collected boundaries whenever the Indian bowlers erred in their line and lengths.

However, just when Australia looked to be in control, debutant off-spinner Washington Sundar claimed the big wicket of Smith at his individual score of 36, getting the prolific batsman caught at short mid-wicket by Sharma.

That's stumps! Interesting day one at the Gabba with Marnus Labuschagne the star for Australia.

Scorecard: https://t.co/qvYTMSiZsl #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/sPyNAywKmg

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2021

India could've got their fourth wicket soon after that had skipper Ajinkya Rahane not dropped the catch of Labuschagne at gully against Navdeep Saini. What added to the wounds of the Indian team was that Saini suffered an injury in his groin after that incident in the 36th over and was taken off the field, only to be sent for scans later in the day.

Wade, who came to bat after the fall of Smith's wicket, started off slowly but once he got set, the left-handed batsman stitched a brilliant partnership with Labuschagne. The pair added 113 runs before Wade became the first Test scalp of T Natarajan in the final session of the day.

Natarajan, playing his first Test, then removed Labuschagne and brought India back into the game.

However, Paine and Green then played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten 61-run partnership to help the hosts end the opening day of the series decider, having the upper hand.

Brief scores: Australia 274/5 at stumps on Day One (Marnus Labuschagne 108, Matthew Wade 45; T Natarajan 2/63)