Australia declared their first innings at a massive 598/4 on the board, with both Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith smashing their respective double-centuries. Also contributing to the score was Travis Head, who fell one short of what could be a remarkable ton.
In response, the West Indies openers showed stunning fightback and remained unbeaten, helping the tourists score 74/0 at stumps. Debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul, in particular, was the highlight with his remarkable batting.
Tagenarine, like his father, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, was super impressive with his grit, determination and sublime maturity while facing arguably the deadliest bowling attack at present. He stayed undefeated at 47 from 73 deliveries with the help of 6 fours and a six.
During his stay in the middle, Tagenarine caught himself in a funny situation when he got hit on the soft area by Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood. It all happened on the final delivery of the sixth over when Hazlewood went for a 134.1kph short-of-length ball. Tagenarine shuffled across a bit to block but got beaten on the inside edge, and the red leather hit on his box, leaving the youngster in pain.
Here is the video:
‘He was tough to bowl to’: Hazlewood on bowling against Tagenarine
Post the stumps, Hazlewood was quizzed about the incident involving Tagenarine. The right-arm pacer said it is part and parcel of the game before lavishing praises on junior Chanderpaul, stating Tagenarine played some stunning shots and was tough to bowl to.
“It’s part of the game, unlucky. (Hitting Tagenarine on the box). Once he got going, he played a few shots, and it was tough to bowl to. We’ll have to come out fresh again tomorrow. (On Tagenarine’s batting),” said Hazlewood after the end of the day’s play.
Hazlewood also heaped praises on Labuschagne and Smith, who had a tremendous outing in the first innings. While Smith remained unbeaten at 200, Labuschagne scored 204 runs.
“They love batting, and they love batting together. Anytime they get out to the middle and score some runs …. their hunger is second to none, good to see. It was pretty much the perfect innings for everyone involved,” added Hazlewood.
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