Australia fought back on the first morning of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Test series via an unbeaten 74-run partnership between Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne after losing the openers early.
Labuschagne kicked off his innings in high tempo, collecting a couple of boundaries while Smith was kept quiet for a period of 26 balls on 6. It was in this phase that Smith was at his most edgy, nicking Axar Patel only to be put down by Virat Kohli at slip. He waded through the rough patch and went to Lunch on 19(74), playing a chip over midwicket and a punch off the backfoot against Ravindra Jadeja.
Australia heads into Lunch 2-76, after India took 2 early wickets in Nagpur.#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/yeErBCEWnc
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 9, 2023
