- Updates from the opening day of play in Canberra
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8th over: Australia 24-2 (Burns 10, Labuschagne 2) That’s Joe Burns at his best, clobbering a second cover drive to the boundary of the morning. When he was making tons for Australia in the summer of 2015-16, that was the stroke that defined him. Fernando doesn’t bother him in the rest of the over, spraying a couple down the legside. A bonus two comes at the end via an overthrow, Karunaratne missing the mark with a ping to the bowlers’ end.
“Why the ‘Manuka’ Oval, is it a sponsorship?” asks Andrew Benton on email. No, thankfully the ground is without commercial baggage this week as far as the official title is concerned, named after the Manuka strip, at the southern end.
7th over: Australia 18-2 (Burns 4, Labuschagne 2) Rajith’s turn. He did beat Burns with a nice little away-ducker in his previous set, which should build confidence after a ropey start. Labuschagne is on strike this time around though, off the mark early in the new over with a compact push for two through cover. The young Queenslander batted very nicely last Friday, his 80-odd containing just three boundaries. There will be no better opportunity than today for him to show he’s ready to take the next step.
Written by Adam Collins (now), Geoff Lemon & Jonathan Howcroft (later)
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2019/feb/01/australia-v-sri-lanka-second-test-day-one-live under the title “Australia v Sri Lanka: second Test, day one – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
