Temba Bavuma chose to bowl on a cloudy morning, and South Africa’s pacers were spot on. He struck frequently to put Australia in a position in the opening session of the World Test Championship final at Lord’s. Australia entered the lunch break on Day 1 at 63/4. Steve Smith not out at 26. Kagiso Rabada spearheaded the attack with well while Marco Jansen provided good support. Jansen and Rabada, South Africa’s new-ball duo, bowled three consecutive maidens while maintaining discipline with the line and lengths.
Even as Rabada delivered a hat-trick of maidens to Usman Khawaja, Labuschagne got Australia moving with three pairs off Jansen. He eventually got his reward when he had the left-hander edging to first slip to dismiss him for a 20-ball duck.
The batter fell to Rabada, who was beautifully taken by Aiden Markram at second slip. Ending Cameron Green’s attempt at number three. They subsequently got through the first hour without suffering any further damage as Smith and Labuschagne hit a couple of boundaries to defeat an outstanding spell from Rabada (6-4-9-2). They also defeated Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder.
On the first ball of the second hour, Smith looked at a loose ball from Ngidi for a boundary. The bowler also caught the edge of his bat, but the ball went to the boundary. Mulder attempted to worry Labuschagne a few times without success, while Smith also hit a drive past point off Ngidi. Thirty minutes into the second hour, Jansen came back into the attack and got Labuschagne to edge to the ‘keeper, breaking a 30-run stand. This was Jansen’s breakthrough.
Smith and Travis Head each hit a boundary off Jansen to begin the recovery process anew. The umpire’s call spared Smith after he was slapped on the pad after crossing too far to an oncoming Jansen delivery. After that, Jansen struck hard just before lunch, catching Head down the legside on the final ball before the break.
