India vs Australia: ‘They spend every minute together’ - Aaron Finch on Smith-Labuschagne ‘bromance’

Australia captain Aaron Finch on Friday opened up on the camaraderie between batsmen Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, who stitched a 96-run partnership for 3rd wicket in the 2nd ODI against India at Rajkot. The visitors were asked to chase 341, but early dismissals of David Warner and skipper Finch put pressure on the Aussies. Labuschagne and Smith settled the side, and brought them back into the contest, before the former was dismissed by a turning delivery from Ravindra Jadeja.

Smith went on to smash 98 off 102 balls, before he was cleaned up by Kuldeep Yadav. In the end, Aussies were bundled out for 304, and India won the match by 36 runs. At the post-match presentation ceremony, commentator Harsha Bhogle asked about the partnership between Smith and Labuschagne that almost changed the tide of the game.

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“Smith and Labuschagne, they look like long-lost brothers, don’t they?” he asked. In reply, Finch said: “They certainly are (long-lost brothers). They love batting together, they spend every minute of the day together. I think the only time they don’t spend with each other is when they sleep.”

With the win, Virat Kohli & Co. levelled the three-match ODI series at 1-1, with the decider to be played on Sunday at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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Speaking on the win, Kohli said: “It augurs well when the two openers are so good together. Rohit’s left shoulder has popped out of few times, and he should be good to go in the next game. I asked the bowlers what they wanted to do and they said this was the time to execute the yorkers. All three of them were really good with the yorkers, particularly Shami who changed everything in that over.”