Marnus Labuschagne was denied a much-deserved ton by Ravindra Jadeja as the Australian innings was pegged back by Indian bowlers on the second day of the ongoing third Test in Sydney on Friday. 

Labuschagne, along with his mentor Steve Smith, added 100 runs for the third wicket and looked set for his fifth Test century before Jadeja induced an outside edge for skipper Ajinkya Rahane to take a sharp, low catch at first slip to dismiss the South-African born batsman at 91. 

Jadeja, who was underused on the opening day of the match – introduced very late into the attack to bowl only three overs – was deployed much earlier today and provided two vital breakthroughs on the day, also dismissing Matthew Wade. 

Rahane deployed a leg-heavy field at the onset of the second day’s play with the India pacers sticking to a middle-leg line, not presenting much of a threat to Labuschagne and Smith. The duo comfortably added 40 runs to the overnight score of 166, bringing up their 100-run stand as well. 

Labuschagne, who struck 11 boundaries in his innings, was caught by the extra bounce in an arm ball by Jadeja as he edged the delivery to the Indian skipper.

His dismissal was followed by Smith reaching his 30th Test fifty in the very next over, smacking Ravichandran Ashwin (0/74 in 24 overs) for a boundary straight down the ground as he overcame low scores in Adelaide and Melbourne with his first milestone of the series. 

His unbeaten 76 at Lunch featured 11 fours. 

Wade looked for an aggressive approach from the offset, hitting two boundaries en route to scoring 13 from 15 deliveries before skying a delivery from Jadeja straight to Jasprit Bumrah at mid-on. 

India’s resurgence continued with Bumrah then trapping Cameron Green (0 from 21) for an easy lbw decision right on the stoke of Lunch.