Australia v Pakistan, match report: Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner turn screw all day and all night
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne both posted unbeaten centuries as the tourists had no answer to their relentless accumulation of runs across a rain affected first day and night in Adelaide, with only one result now likely.
David Warner’s all-conquering start to the summer went to another level on Friday night in Adelaide, as he turned the lights out on Pakistan with a maiden pink ball Test hundred.
The Australian opener and Marnus Labuschagne both made it back-to-back Test centuries (for Warner it was consecutive 150s) but their sheer dominance has already served to pound a listless Pakistan into submission.
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Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Afridi started the day taking the early scalp of Joe Burns, but finished it with a series of embarrassing fielding calamities which allowed Warner (166 not out) and Labuschagne (126no) – now the highest run-scorer in Test cricket this year – to box Australia towards what looks like being another one-sided knock out.
Afridi at one point ran the opposite way to the direction of the pink ball in the outfield, and later soccered a near stationary ball over the boundary like it was an open goal.
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It summed up the meek surrender of a Pakistan outfit that has been completely pulverised by Warner’s thundering return to international cricket on home soil – and at stumps Australia were 1-302 in a contest that looks as good as dead.
The 30,878 in attendance deserved enormous credit, not only for outlasting a long rain delay, but turning up when Pakistan already had one foot on the plane home.
The reward was an unbeaten 294-run partnership between Warner and Labuschagne that overtook Justin Langer and Mark Taylor in 1998 as the biggest ever for an Australian second-wicket stand.
Under pressure following his battling Ashes campaign in England, Warner announced he was back with a bulldozing Twenty20 series, only to pick up speed for the Tests.
It is Warner’s 23rd Test century – drawing him equal with his coach, Langer – and his fourth at Adelaide Oval.
However, until Friday night, the romance in his Adelaide relationship had always been killed once the lights came on.
In traditional day-time Adelaide Tests, the raging Bull had hammered three hundreds at a stunning average of 70 in the City of Churches.
Yet since cricket started playing Test matches after dark, mostly in Adelaide, Warner had averaged just 30 in five matches, with a highest score of 47.
One night against South Africa a few years ago, Warner even missed his cue to open after being stuck in the bathroom.
However, all that changed as the Warner juggernaut found his range with the pink ball.
Warner denied he had an issue with the pink ball before Friday night. Instead declaring it one of the most disciplined innings of his career.
"Not at all. I scored Shield pink ball hundreds. For me, the majority of the time I’ve got some pretty good balls," said Warner.
"I felt like tonight I actually really tightened up in my defence. It's probably the best I’ve ever left. And I think that’s down to the quality bowling of Abbas.
"Leading into this Test knowing what he’s capable of I had to be patient as well.
"I couldn’t play those rash shots and he really tried his best to hang it out there and dangle the carrot and I just waited for him to over pitch.
"That's one thing in my game I’ve really tried to work hard on. I've really tried to be a bit more patient and really wait for it. The last two games I’ve actually showed myself I can do that and I’m capable of doing that. I’m just really proud with how good my defence actually was tonight."
On 99, Warner was forced to block out a maiden over from Mohammad Abbas.
When he got a sniff for a single against Yasir Shah, Warner ran so hard he ran into the spinner and dropped his bat as he made his ground – but being empty handed couldn’t stop the entertainer’s customary leap into the air.
It looked like there was even more emotion behind Warner’s celebration than there was in Brisbane.
Perhaps because he’d broken his drought against the pink ball, but more likely because the consecutive centuries reinforced the fact he is once again a force to be reckoned with.
Not to be outdone, young Queenslander Labuschagne continues to be the revelation of the summer.
Before last week, he was yet to turn a start into a ton, but like Warner, Labuschagne has gone hundred-hundred against Pakistan.
Warner praised Labsuchagne for the immense improvement he's shown over recent months - likening the 24-year-old's energetic persona to his own at the same age.
"Marnus fielded for us one or two times in Test matches, then I played against him in Shield games," Warner said.
"I just remember how annoying he was, he never shut up on the field, a bit like me when I was a youngster. But his work ethic is outstanding, he's got this bromance between him and Smudge [Smith] and it's really rubbing off on him in the way he prepares.
"I've had people say they couldn't believe how good he was, and everyone talks about how he gets starts, but I always said to him the hardest one is your first one, and then it goes on from there. To see him start like he did last game, loud calls, good intent, rotated the strike, I can't praise him any more, he's an outstanding talent."
Warner has now made more international centuries than any Australian other than Ricky Ponting.
Labuschagne on the other hand, looks like the heir to Ponting’s throne at No.3, a poisoned chalice position that has sat vacant since the Test great’s retirement.
Under gloomy and brooding skies, Warner showcased the clear technical adjustments he’s made to his game.
Much anticipation surrounded champion seamer Mohammad Abbas’ return to the Test side after his controversial brushing in Brisbane – but Warner proved Pakistan right for not picking the veteran in the first place.
Burns got a ball that pitched on middle stump and then nibbled away from teenage powerhouse Shaheen Afridi.
Originally published as Australia v Pakistan, match report: Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner turn screw all day and all night
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