Sports
Concussion sub Labuschagne eclipses Bavuma one-man show
Australia beat South Africa in the first ODI in Bloemfontein, courtesy a lower-order rescue act by concussion substitute Marnus Labuschagne and all-rounder Ashton Agar. After Australia were in a crisis, at 113/7 chasing 223, Agar and Labuschagne put on a century stand to take Australia to victory, despite Temba Bavuma’s one-man show in the first innings.
Marco Jansen got rid of David Warner early in the chase, getting him to chop a delivery that got stuck in the surface, onto his stumps. A flurry of boundaries followed, and Australia looked like they were in a hurry, with Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh putting on 37 in 29 balls.
However, Kagiso Rabada broke through soon enough, getting Marsh to edge one to the keeper. It was then that Cam Green, facing his second ball, was struck on the helmet by Rabada and had to go off the field with a concussion. Labuschagne was announced to be the like-for-like concussion substitute for Green.
Josh Inglis was the next man in, but departed soon after, knocked over by Rabada, and Australia were in real trouble when Head played one shot too many to hand a catch to Rabada off Lungi Ngidi. Alex Carey was knocked over by Gerald Koetzee soon after, and Marcus Stoinis, who got off to a brisk start, handed Heinrich Klaasen a catch. Sean Abbott was soon knocked over by Keshav Maharaj and it seemed all but over for Australia, before Agar came in to join Labuschagne.
The two put on a 112 for the eighth wicket, and looked far less hurried than the top order, milking the singles and creaming the poor balls for boundaries. Labuschagne got to his half-century, but kept his head down, taking Australia over the line with ease in the end, with nearly ten overs and three wickets to spare. The win gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Earlier, Australia asked South Africa to bat first after winning the toss, and picked up wickets at regular intervals, including Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. South Africa also lost Klaasen and David Miller in quick succession and to be cornered at 100/5. However, some defiance from Marco Jansen alongside Bavuma yielded a partnership of 57 to take the score to 157/6.
Another flurry of wickets followed, but a stubborn stand for the tenth wicket between Ngidi and Bavuma allowed the latter to get to a heroic century, and lifted South Africa to 222. Ngidi lost his wicket with the six balls left in the innings, meaning Bavuma carried his bat through the innings on the way to 114*.
Australia face play South Africa in the second ODI at the same venue on Saturday (September 9).
Brief scores:
South Africa 222in 49 overs (Temba Bavuma 114*, Marco Jansen 32, Josh Hazlewood 3-41) lost to Australia 225/7in 40.2 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 80*, Ashton Agar 48*, Gerald Coetzee 2-44) by 3 wickets.