Watch: Marnus Labuschagne's stunning two-handed catch helps Australia remove Temba Bavuma
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne took a beauty of a catch to get rid of the South African skipper, Temba Bavuma, on Day 2 of the World Test Championship match at Lord's Stadium on Thursday, June 12.Pat Cummins, in the 40th over, pitched it full and enticed Bavuma to go for the drive. But the batter was unable to keep it down and found Labuschagne, who took a stunning two-handed catch, at the cover region. The fielder dove to his right and managed to get the ball with both hands. | WTC final Day 2 Updates |advertisementAfter being slammed by critics for the lack of intent shown by the Proteas batters on the opening day, the captain looked to lead from the front and play some attacking strokes. But the risk did not pay off as Pat Cummins came out victorious in the mini-duel to give the defending champions a key breakthrough. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ICC (@icc)
Cricketing greats like Matthew Hayden and Dale Steyn were critical of Bavuma and the batting unit's lack of intent during the final stretch of the opening day as they ended up losing four wickets fairly cheaply, thanks to Australia's star fast-bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins.Bavuma, after a fairly quiet start on Day 1, looked to up the scoring rate and take his side closer to a lead, but his efforts went in vain as the Proteas found themselves in a precarious position, with the likes of Kyle Vereynne and David Bedingham left as the specialist batters. The captain and Bedingham stitched together a 69-run partnership to keep them alive, but the wicket came in at the wrong time in the first session on Thursday.advertisementBedingham looks to continue off the start he's had and will bank on Vereynne to give him the support from the other end to keep the Proteas' fight going.Bavuma will hope that the lower middle-order batters, including all-rounder Marco Jansen, can put together a big partnership to keep them in the contest as the South African side eye their first major ICC trophy since 1998. But Australia will be a tough opposition considering their record in the big games, and they will fancy their chances of creating history and retaining the World Test Championship title.Must Watch
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