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Patna : Australia were 166/2 in 55 overs in their first innings at stumps on Day 1 in the 3rd test against India at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia, on January 7, 2021, with Marnus Labuschagne unbeaten on 67 in 149 balls with 8 fours and Steven Smith unbeaten on 31 in 64 balls with 5 fours. Australia won the toss and opted to bat. The four-match test series is level 1-1.
Opener David Warner, who returned to the team, fell to medium fast bowler Mohd Siraj with only 6 runs on board. But debutant opener Will Pucovski, 2, and Marnus Labuschagne, 26, then steadied the innings adding 100 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Pucovski fell to debutant fast bowler Navdeep Saini for 62 in 110 balls with 4 fours making it 106/2. Labuschagne and Smith have so far added 60 runs in their unbroken partnership for the 3rd wicket. Smith negotiated spinner Ravichandra Ashwin well in this innings. Ashwin has claimed his wicket twice in this series so far. The first session of the play was stopped after 7.1 overs due to rain.
For India, Rohit Sharma has returned to the side while fast bowler Navdeep Saini makes his debut. Hanuma Vihari has been retained while opener Mayank Agarwal has been dropped.