{"id":16461,"date":"2021-01-01T06:36:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T07:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=16461"},"modified":"2021-01-01T10:59:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T10:59:35","slug":"ugly-runs-could-be-the-key-says-marnus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=16461","title":{"rendered":"Ugly runs could be the key, says Marnus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian run-machines Steve Smith<\/a> and Marnus Labuschagne have fallen a long way short of their lofty standards during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series – and the latter says ugly runs could offer an escape.<\/p>\n

Smith had a Test batting average of 62.84 ahead of Australia's home series against India, while Labuschagne averaged 63.43.<\/p>\n

But Smith and Labuschagne averaged just 3.33 and 32.25 respectively over the first two Tests, at Adelaide Oval and the Melbourne Cricket Ground<\/a>, and are now tasked with leading Australia's quest to break the one-all series deadlock.<\/p>\n

"You don't want to give any excuses for why we're not scoring runs," Labuschagne said.<\/p>\n

"They've been very good, they've bowled really well and they've been really consistent, so for us it's just about finding a way. It doesn't have to be pretty; we just have to keep grinding and keep finding a way, and if we do get in we've got to make sure we get those big scores."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although they haven't enjoyed as much success in the Test series as had been expected, Smith and Labuschagne are set to return to a venue at which they've both thrived in the Test arena.<\/p>\n

The former Australia captain averages 67.88 across seven Tests at the Sydney Cricket Ground<\/a>, while his understudy averages 104 across two Tests at the Moore Park venue.<\/p>\n

Labuschagne was sublime when Australia last played a Test at the SCG, compiling innings of 215 – his top Test score – and 59 against New Zealand in January 2020.<\/p>\n

"It was very special getting that double hundred at the SCG and doing it in front of a full house in the pink Test," Labuschagne said.<\/p>\n

"I really enjoy batting there. It's a beautiful venue to play at, and it has been, at times, quite batting-friendly.<\/p>\n

"But with two world-class bowling attacks it's always hard work; it doesn't matter what the wicket is like."<\/p>\n

Australia will have to win this Test series to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they haven't held since the 2014-15 Australian summer.<\/p>\n

India have since won the series on home soil in 2017 and on Australian shores in the 2018-19 summer, becoming the first sub-continental team to win a Test series in Australia.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian run-machines Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have fallen a long way short of their lofty standards during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series – and the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16461"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16463,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461\/revisions\/16463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}