[WATCH] Ashes 2025-26: Marnus Labuschagne gives fiery response after controversial dismissal at MCG

Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne was not at all pleased after being given out by the third umpire after nicking a delivery through to Joe Root at first slip on Day 2 of the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26. The current series has thrown up no shortage of on and off-field controversies, with Labuschagne’s being the latest.

The South Africa-born Aussie batter was disappointed and let out an angry shriek while walking off after he felt Root’s fingers was not completely underneath the ball at the time of impact. The third umpire felt otherwise, with the Ben Stokes-led side celebrating in delight after the final decision had been made.

Check out the video of Marnus Labuschagne’s controversial dismissal here

Labuschagne was dismissed on the first ball of the 18th over of Australia’s second innings, scoring only eight runs during his 18-ball stay. He had not lasted long in the first innings as well, where the same combination of Josh Tongue and Root had been responsible for his dismissal. Labuschagne had not been able to register a double-digit score across either innings.

Speaking of Australia‘s second innings, they were bundled out for just 132 to set England a target of 175 to win their first contest in the series. It was a complete bowling effort from Stokes & Co. to give themselves a very likely prospect of coming out on top after three underwhelming outings in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.

At Tea, England needed 98 for victory with eight wickets in the balance. Ben Duckett (34 off 26) and Brydon Carse (6 off 8) were the players to get dismissed by Mitchell Starc and Jhye Richardson, respectively. They were going at a decent clip, too. Zak Crawley, who was looking good during his time at the crease, was dismissed LBW by Scott Boland. However, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith stood their guard strongly as the Englishmen finally won a red-ball game Down Under since 2011.