AUS vs SA: How Marnus Labuschagne Win Match for Australia Without Being Part of Playing Eleven
In the ODI match between Australia and South Africa, the South African team was in control, but the player who has a great history with the rule of concussion substitution pulled off a sensational win with his amazing unbeaten half century for his team.
While chasing a small target given by the African team, the Australian team lost early wickets on a sluggish surface. The Aussies were losing control of the match, but the turning moment for the team came when young allrounder Cameron Green got a nasty blow on his head. Then Marnus Labuschagne came in as the concussion substitute and snatched a victory from South Africa’s pocket.
He played a stunning inning of 80 not-outs in just 93 balls.
When he came to the crease, the Australian team was down while chasing a small total, but the conditions were not suitable for the batters. He played beautifully through out his inning; firstly, he stopped the collapse of the wickets and built the partnership with Ashton Agar, who was also brilliant with Willow. Other batters were struggling to get runs, but it looked like Marnus was playing on a different track because he was playing his shorts very easily.
His unbeaten partnership with Ashton Agar
He also threaded a beautiful partnership with left-handed Ashton Agar, both remained not out on 80 and 48, and the stand between them was 112. They complimented each other throughout their partnership; they took counter attacks on the bowlers at the right time and played very sensible cricket in the middle.
Marnus Labuschagne’s history as a concussion substitute
He was the first player, even in the history of cricket and test cricket, to be used as a concussion substitute, firstly in the Ashes 2019, where he came in for Steven Smith and got a nasty blow on his head from Jofra Archer. In the match, Australia were in trouble, and he came in and saved the match for his team single-handedly.
In the AUS vs. SA ODI series, he again came in for Cam Green, and the situation was very similar to Ashes 2023, when Marnus repeated the same performance to win the match for his team from nowhere.
