“There was a time there where [the lead] could have been 250, 270, maybe even less there for a bit,” Labuschagne said. “I think we navigated that really well and the lower order deserve a lot of credit for how they managed that last part.”
Labuschagne also deserves enormous credit for one of his toughest Test innings. Having been under intense pressure for his place earlier in the series, he produced his second half-century of the match on a surface that was offering more seam and variable bounce on day four than it had done all Test match.
He did so by taking India’s biggest threat all on his own after Bumrah had ripped the heart out of Australia’s top and middle-order with some help from Mohammed Siraj, who dismissed Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith playing loose strokes trying to profit while not trying to survive Bumrah.
He was nearly unplayable for most of his 24 overs. Bumrah snaked two balls back through the gate to Sam Konstas and Alex Carey to knock back middle stump, having tested them repeatedly with away-swingers in the lead-up.
“I’m pretty sure the young guy got under his skin a bit,” Labuschagne said of Bumrah’s reaction to dismissing Konstas. “I’d say that had a bit of fair bit to do with it.”
That’s still better than Cummins, who had a career record of 8 for 51 against Bumrah when he walked to the crease. It led to an extraordinary situation of Labuschagne turning down singles to keep Australia’s captain away from Bumrah.
“There would have been a lot [said about the fact] we weren’t taking all the ones,” Labuschagne said. “When Pat came out, I said to Sean Abbott, who is the 12th man, I think I should just face Bumrah here, because obviously I’d been batting for maybe 90 balls or something and I had a fair feeling lining him up, and he was hot.
“He got three wickets in two overs. I just said to Pat when he came out, what do you think? I’ll just take Bumrah and we can run on the other guys but let’s just make sure that I’m at the non-striker’s end at the end of each over to make sure that if Bumrah bowls it I can just face as many overs as we can. And we kind of stuck to that process.”
Much was made of Labuschagne’s approach to Bumrah in Perth where he barely offered a shot. That approach still had question marks leading into this Test as Nathan McSweeney paid a price for having too similar a style to Labuschagne. Konstas was picked to throw something different at Bumrah which he did so successfully in the first innings.
Labuschagne’s method works against the master, despite the optics. He was beaten 12 times today but played the line and never once nicked him. It was pure grit and determination as opposed to Konstas’ flight and flash. Labuschagne had luck at the other end, dropped off Akash Deep on 46 playing a flirty late cut that had also brought him undone earlier in the series.
He eventually fell lbw to Siraj to a ball that kept low and hit the stumps from a length of 8.1 metres. But his job was done. Cummins made the most runs he’s ever made in a Test match thanks to Labuschagne’s protection and Lyon and Boland added an extra layer of insurance to their fourth-innings defence.
“The way the wicket played and the way India bowled and came out and put us under pressure in that first 40 to 50 overs, that [declaration] wasn’t an option for us, and it became let’s get as many runs as we can”
Marnus Labuschagne
There will be questions as to why Australia didn’t declare.
“We obviously had the perfect outcome for us and that probably looked like having a bowl tonight and putting them under pressure,” Labuschagne said. “But the way the wicket played and the way India bowled and came out and put us under pressure in that first 40 to 50 overs, that [declaration] wasn’t an option for us, and it became let’s get as many runs as we can.
“In the past India’s middle to lower order have been very good. Obviously we want to make sure we get enough runs, but I think we also need to back ourselves and trust that we can bowl India out.”
Both Bumrah and the ghosts of the Gabba continue to haunt Australia. But Labuschagne, Cummins, Lyon and Boland found a way to give them a decent night’s rest ahead of an enthralling final day.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
