AFP, Adelaide :
Marnus Labuschagne completed an epic century Friday before England got a vital breakthrough to dismiss him for 103 early on a scorching day two of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
The unflappable number three set himself up by batting almost all day on Thursday, riding his luck after coming to the crease when opener Marcus Harris fell cheaply to Stuart Broad.
He shared a 172-run stand with David Warner before reaching three figures from 287 balls, smacking a boundary off Jimmy Anderson.
But Labuschagne struggled when Ollie Robinson was brought into the attack and was trudging to the pavilion when he was caught by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler on 102. However, replays showed it was a no-ball and the batsman headed back to the crease, only for the grin to be quickly wiped off his face minutes later when he was trapped lbw by Robinson.
The 27-year-old Labuschagne brought up his sixth Test century and first in an Ashes series after adding to his overnight 95.
Along the way he clocked up 2,000 Test runs, joining an exalted group of just four other Australian players to reach the milestone in 20 or fewer Tests.
Australia began day two of the pink-ball Test on 221 for two and stretched the lead to 241 for three early in the first session.
Steve Smith, who took over the captaincy when Pat Cummins was ruled out for being a close contact of a Covid-positive case, was not-out 31 and Travis Head, who made a century at the first Test in Brisbane, was yet to score.
Temperatures in Adelaide were a sweltering 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit), with England’s all-pace attack facing a long, hot day in the field.
Australia are tipped to bat as long as possible, then potentially hand the new ball to Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson to target England under the Friday night lights.
