[Picture] “Always listen to your mum” – Marnus Labuschagne shares lovely pictures after mother’s prediction comes true in SA vs AUS 1st ODI

Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has shared lovely pictures with his mother Alta following his heroics with the bat in the first ODI against South Africa in Bloemfontein on Thursday, September 7.

It came after Alta predicted that Labuschagne, who came out as a concussion substitute, would play the game despite not being in the playing XI.

Labuschagne didn’t just come out to bat but stitched a match-winning 112-run partnership with No. 9 batter Ashton Agar to take the Aussies past the finish line. Chasing 223, the right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 80 runs off 93 balls, including eight boundaries.

In a couple of pictures shared on X (formerly Twitter), Labuschagne can be seen hugging his mother. He captioned the post:

“Always listen to your mum.”

The 29-year-old said in the post-match presentation:

"She (His mother) stayed for the whole game. She was adamant when I came here that I was going to play this game and I told her 'I have seen the team, mum, I am not in the team'. She just had a feeling, and once again she's right."

He continued:

"The opportunity that happens when you are a concussion sub is sometimes a little bit of a free hit because the pressure of the game is out there but obviously the expectation is probably not as much on you. I have been really disappointed with how I have played my one-day cricket, the last 10 to 12 games I felt like I have not shown the intensity and the courage that I would have liked.”

“I was not too shocked” – Marnus Labuschagne on his axe for 2023 ODI World Cup

Marnus Labuschagne also opened up on his axe from the Australia squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup. On this, he said:

"I was not too shocked when I was dropped, I said to the selectors (that) 'I understand, I haven't made runs'. When I came back from the Ashes, I went back to the drawing board and really thought about what I wanted to improve in my one-day game."

He added:

"I still want to be that person batting in the middle order, and you have just got to sit tight and wait for your opportunity and when it comes, you have got to be ready."

In 31 ODIs, the middle-order batter has scored 927 runs at an average of 34.33, including one century and seven half-centuries.

.