Australia cricketer Marnus Labuschagne has been in excellent form this year. The 28-year-old right-handed batter recorded his third consecutive century in the first innings of their 2nd Test match against the West Indies.
The Australians started their innings well. Usman Khwaja gave them a great platform with his knock of 62 runs. Labuschagne (163) and Tarvis Head (175) then both scored centuries before the hosts declared on 511/7.
Labuschange has been pretty consistent with the bat in the longer format of the game and fans on social media have been lavishing him with high praises.
Marnus Labuschagne is a perfect treat to watch 😀 i’m pretty sure he is going to be the greatest test batsmen of all time after Don Bradman!! He sure as hell gonna beat Bradman’s highest rating points 961 in Tests. He just need 26 rating points to do so!! @marnus3cricket #AUSvsWI– Tahir Shaik (@_iTahir) December 8, 2022
Quickest to reach 3000 Test runsInns33 – Don Bradman51 – Everton Weekes/Marnus Labuschagne#AUSvWI #AusvsWI— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 9, 2022
Marnus Labuschagne’s last 5 innings in Test Cricket:104(156) in SL.32(59) in SL.204(350) in AUS.104*(110) in AUS.163(305) in AUS.
5 innings, 607 runs, 151.75 average, 4 hundreds – No.1 Test Batsman for a reason! pic.twitter.com/vt4a9Sghi7
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) December 9, 2022
Marnus Labuschagne is the best batsman in the world at the moment— jared (@MUFC1499) December 9, 2022
The 28-year-old has been in rich vein of form during the ongoing series.
He started with a double-century in the 1st innings of the series opener. Steve Smith followed the suit and recorded a double century of his own.
Head was quite unlucky to bowled by Kraig Brathwaite when batting on 99.
The Aussies continued their scintillating form as Labuschange scored 104 runs in the second innings and they declared at 182 runs for the loss of two wickets. This put them in a solid position to win the match as they bowled out the West India side for a total of 333 in the last innings, winning by 164 runs to take 1-0 lead.
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They have carried that momentum in the second contest as well with the West Indian bowlers struggling to assert themselves.
Thanks to his exploits, Labuschagne is often compared with the legendary Don Bradman himself.
Bradman averaged a mind-boggling 99.94 during his Test career with a total of 6996 runs from 52 matches for Australia.
This is the second occasion in his career when the 28-year-old batter has scored three consecutive centuries. David Warner is the only other Australian to have achieved a similar feat.
With a firm base already created Australia would be eager to win the second test and clinch the series.
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