Labuschagne to partner with Khawaja as Australia's openers in WTC final at Lord's
LONDON, June 10 (AP): Marnus Labuschagne has moved one place up the batting order to open with Usman Khawaja for Australia in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's from Wednesday.
Labuschagne's place in the team was in doubt after a lean 2023-25 WTC cycle - average 28.33 runs - but he was given another shot on Tuesday by Australia's failure to find a permanent replacement at opener for David Warner, who retired from tests in January 2024. Labuschagne will open in a test for only the second time in nine years.
The 19-year-old specialist opener Sam Konstas was left out, and Travis Head, preferred in Sri Lanka in February, will drop back to No. 5 in the order. Konstas was disappointed, Cummins said.
Fit-again Josh Hazlewood was picked ahead of the unlucky Scott Boland in the pace attack. Boland replaced an injured Hazlewood for the 2023 final and starred as Australia beat India by 209 runs at the Oval.
Nine of those 11 will play consecutive WTC finals.
Cameron Green will bat at No. 3 in his first test since lower spine surgery in October sidelined him for six months, and at No. 6 the two-meter-tall allrounder Beau Webster, who debuted in January against India.
South Africa gave Lungi Ngidi's experience the edge over Dane Paterson as the third seamer.
Ngidi hasn't played a test since August, but 19 tests and 55 wickets, including Joe Root's at Lord's in 2022, put him in the pace attack with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen.
Paterson, more deceptive than fast, earned five-fors in his last two tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in December and played at Lord's three times in the last two months for Middlesex in the English County Championship second division, but that wasn't enough.
Lineups:
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verrynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
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