Debutant Will Pucovski rode his luck on the opening day of the third Test in Sydney to notch his first fifty as did Marnus Labuschagne, who hit an unbeaten half-century to put Australia in a commanding position, 166/2, at stumps on Day 1 of the Sydney Test. Steve Smith, too, broke his shackles to help his team maintain their pole position.

Returning David Warner was sent packing early as Mohammed Siraj continued his wicket-taking riot from Melbourne to put Australia on the back foot before rain halted play at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for nearly four hours. 

However, Pucovski and Labuschagne added 100 runs for the second wicket as the former went on to score 62 after being shared his blushes by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant twice before tea. 

Debutant Navdeep Saini, selected in place of the injured Umesh Yadav, trapped Pucovski in front of the wicket to peg the hosts back early in the third session but Smith and Labuschagne took charge of the proceedings from there to end the day with the promise of an imposing first-innings total. 

Smith, who uncharacteristically registered single digits scores in each of his last three innings and was dethroned as the top-ranked batsman prior to this innings, dispatched pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for a boundary at mid-on in just his eighth delivery to set the tone for his innings. 

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He then struck a couple of boundaries off Saini in the very next over and seemed to have dispelled his ghosts from the first half of the series before India skipper Ajinkya Rahane effected a bowling change to introduce his nemesis Ravichandran Ashwin. 

However, the Australian was more than prepared this time, taking on the veteran spinner for a couple of boundaries to stamp his authority over the matchup. 

“It was good to get a couple of boundaries early. Marnus played well, hopefully we go along well tomorrow,” he said in his post-match comments.

Meanwhile, Smith’s understudy Labuschagne survived an early scare, edging a Bumrah-delivery which fell just short of the slip squadron, before notching his ninth Test fifty. 

The South African-born remained unbeaten at 67 and shared a 60-run stand with Smith. 

Australian skipper Tim Paine won the toss and chose to bat on a day marred by rain, with as many as 35 overs being lost due to the weather-enforced stoppages.