Former Australia captain Tim Paine has lauded Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney’s performance in the Pink-ball test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, in which the hosts secured a 10-wicket victory at Adelaide.
The hosts levelled the series 1-1 after the win in the Pink-ball test where Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney had a decent performance which helped the side to secure a win in a match.
“We spoke a couple of days ago about the pressure that was on them and the response that people were wanting to see. This is a harshly treated team at times, but they are one of the great teams,” Paine said.
Paine has praised the hosts, stating that the way they responded under pressure was huge. He particularly mentioned the likes of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
“The big boys stood up I thought particularly the captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc – the pink ball wizard, Travis Head was amazing and Marnus I thought was really pleasing,” he stated.
Paine also described the last session of play on the opening day as Test cricket at it absolute best.
“You’ve got one of our absolute champions who’s averaged 60 plus at times fighting to save his career and you’ve got a kid in his second Test trying to establish himself.”
Paine added that seeing good players fighting so desperately is a good thing to witness in professional sports.
“For Marnus and Nathan McSweeney at different points of their career to be able to nail down get through … that just put Australia so far out in front of that Test match,” he said.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Josh Hazlewood has fastened his recovery and is expected to return for third test. After suffering a 295-run defeat at Perth, Australia secured a stunning 10 wicket victory at Adelaide to reclaim their top spot in WTC points table.
The third test of the Australia-India tests will begin on December 14 at The Gabba.
