South Africa bowler Anrich Nortje claimed two wickets to loosen Australia’s hold on the third Test in Sydney as rain stopped play on the opening day.
Nortje was the best player for the Proteas. He quickly got rid of Warner for 10 and stopped Labuschagne from getting his 11th Test hundred late in the day.
As bad light and rain brought an early end to the first day, Australia was at 147 for 2 with Usman Khawaja, who usually scores 98 in Sydney Tests, still not out on 54 and Steven Smith still not on.
The big breakthrough came when Nortje hit a ripper that hit Labuschagne’s bat on the edge and got him caught behind, ending his 151-ball stay.
In the pacer’s first over of the day, Warner, who had scored 200 runs in the Melbourne Test, was caught at slip by Jansen for 10.
As soon as Smith got to the wicket after Labuschagne was out, the players left the field for the last time because it was getting dark.
It’s the sixth time in the last seven that rain has messed up a Sydney Test.
When Labuschagne was on 70, he edged Jansen to Harmer at slip. This caused a lot of trouble.
The on-field umpires gave a soft signal of “out,” but the third umpire, Richard Kettleborough, said that the ball had touched the ground between Harmer’s fingers.
Khawaja also made it through a review right after lunch. He was given out leg before wicket when he reverse-swept Harmer, but replays showed that the ball had touched his glove.
The first day was also notable because Australia brought back Matt Renshaw for his first Test since April 2018. After the toss was made and the team made up, Renshaw got a positive Covid-19 test.
But team officials said that even though his symptoms were mild, he would still play in the game.
Renshaw was moved to a different locker room from the rest of his team, where he will get ready for the rest of the game. He spent most of the game sitting away from the team runners near the Australian dugout.
Skipper Pat Cummins won the toss for the fifth time in a row. He chose to play an extra spinner, left-armer Ashton Agar, and brought in Renshaw to help the batting, leaving in-form fast bowler Scott Boland on the sidelines.
South Africa did the same thing. Off-spinner Harmer beat Lungi Ngidi, and Theunis de Bruyn was replaced at number three by Heinrich Klaasen.
Australia will try to do more than just win the series. They will also try to make sure they are in the ICC World Test Championship final in London in June. The Proteas still have a small chance, but first they have to pull off a surprise in Sydney.
The Australians have already won the three-game series because they beat the Proteas by an innings and 182 runs in Melbourne. This came after they beat the Proteas by six wickets in two days in the first game in Brisbane.
Photo by EPA/DAVID NEILSON
