Marnus Labuschagne was the stationary object again as Mitchell Starc’s return showed glimpses of his irresistible strength as day one honors were split between NSW and Queensland in the Sheffield Shield
Test star Labuschagne (117) did tons of back-to-back shields as the Bulls finished 7-274 Friday at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide
Starc, rested for NSW opener, captured 2-71 over 20 overs in his first long game since January
At one point he hit Labuschagne on the arm with a vicious, rising delivery and he also reminded his test-mate to stay in his enclosure while on the non-attacking side.
The Blues won the toss and opted to go bowling but only made one breakthrough in the opening session when the frugal Harry Conway (1-24, 17 overs) ruled out Bryce Street (22), caught by Nick Larkin in the third slip
Things picked up in the middle of the session as Sean Abbott (2-56) caught up with first test player Joe Burns for 29 years before cutting Usman Khawaja’s stump (4) with a nice bullet that cut the seam
When Starc pulled another former Test batsman Matthew Renshaw (8) out, Queensland faltered at 4-115
The chic Non3 crossed 16 borders and benefited from a 136-race partnership with Jimmy Peirson (66), who became Starc’s second wicket when he was overtaken by Peter Nevill
Labuschagne was finally absent against Trent Copeland (2-44) as the Blues recovered three late wickets to see the light of day
Test tweaker Nathan Lyon worked hard for 15 overs on Friday and finished with the numbers 0-62
Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne, New South Wales, Sheffield Shield, Australian men’s cricket team
World news – AU – Labuschagne scores a ton against NSW at Shield
