Watch: Marnus Labuschagne-Nathan McSweeney take a Worldie relay catch to send Harshit Rana packing

Australia National Cricket Team has been absolutely spot on with their fielding effort in the ongoing Test match against the India National Cricket Team. The opening game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is underway at the Otpus Stadium in Perth.

Australia National Cricket Team has been all over the India National Cricket Team with the ball as well as the field. One of the best efforts in the field came from Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney in the slips as they combined to remove Harshit Rana.

On the 4th ball of the 47th over, Josh Hazlewood bowled a short length outside off, to which Harshit Rana tried punching off the back foot through the off-side. He ended up getting a thick edge, and the ball flew quickly to the left of the gully fielder.

Nathan McSweeney, who was stationed there, dived one-handed but failed to hold on to it. The ball, however, deflects off his hand to the right of Marnus Labuschagne, who was at third slip. Marnus Labuschagne showed great reflex and went on to grab a sharp low catch with his right hand.

Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney team up to take a brilliant catch to remove Harshit Rana

Here's the video of Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney's catch:

pic.twitter.com/YWdTXUK1HK

— Kirkit Expert (@expert42983) November 22, 2024

Harshit Rana ended with an inning of 7 runs off 5 balls

Harshit Rana, who is making his debut for the India National Cricket Team, looked scratchy with the bat right from the start. He tried to play the shots but couldn't stand tall and provide support to Nitish Kumar Reddy. He ended with an inning of 7 runs off 5 balls, thanks to the effort of Marnus Labuschagne.

After his wicket, India National Cricket lost the rest of the batters quickly as well. Jasprit Bumrah tried to hold the fort and also slammed a six. But he couldn't stay there for long as well as the Australian pacers kept doing the good work and made sure that they put their team at the top.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the hero for India National Cricket Team with the bat.

Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy was the hero for India National Cricket Team with the bat. The all-rounder showed great promise and made sure that he batted till the very end and took his team to the competitive total in the first innings of the first Test match.

The all-rounder played a magnificent innings of 41 runs off 59 balls and was the top run-getter for the team. He also hit 6 fours and 1 six in his innings. He came to bat when the India National Cricket Team was left tottering at 73/6.

He joined hands with Rishabh Pant, and the duo together bailed the team out of trouble. The keeper-batter provided some entertainment and hit some crisp shots. He ended with an inning of 37 runs off 78 balls with the help of 3 fours and 1 six.

The duo added 48 runs together as the India National Cricket Team ended with a total of 150 runs. For the Australia National Cricket Team, Josh Hazlewood picked four wickets, while Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh bagged two scalps each.

Also read: Nitish Kumar Reddy leads to a massive conflict between Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Gavaskar