‘Kya batting kia hain’- Fans react as Marnus Labuschagne guides Australia to 1-0 lead in first ODI against South Africa

Australia beat South Africa by three wickets in the first ODI on Thursday at Mangaung Oval. Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne came in as a concussion substitute and played a sensational match-winning knock in the first ODI when the Aussies were in trouble. Temba Bavuma scored a hundred in the first innings to put a defendable score in the first innings.

After the 3-0 loss in the T20I, Australia started in the 50-over format in style by taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. Labuschagne has not been included in the 15-men squad of Australia for the upcoming World Cup in India. He once again proved to be the savior for Australia whenever they are in crisis.

Marnus Labuschagne crisis man of Australia 

Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl first. His decision proved to be right as the Proteas were struggling at 100-5. Temba Bavuma led his side from the front by scoring a magnificent 114 runs, while left-arm seamer Marco Jansen scored 32 runs. All the other batters failed on a tricky surface as they got out when Australia were on 89 runs. Josh Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis were the pick of the bowlers. The former picked 3 for 41 while the latter picked 2 for 20.

In reply, David Warner went back on a 2-ball duck in the very first over. The South African pacers bowled well and reduced Australia to 113/7 in 16.3 overs to put the hosts in an advantageous situation. Labuschagne was roped into the playing XI as a concussion substitute for Cameron Green when left the field in the powerplay after being hit on the helmet by a bouncer from Kagiso Rabada. He stitched a 112-run partnership with Ashton Agar who was unbeaten at 48 runs and helped the visitors to reach the target in 40.2 overs.

He got the man of the match award for his sensational inning and said, “Some weird things happen around concussions. I knew I needed to improve my one-day game. Selection for the WC is not my job. My job is just to do whatever I can for the team to win.”

Here’s how fans reacted: