Nathan Lyon and Marnus Labuschagne caught cuddling on the field during the Sheffield Shield final

New South Wales (NSW) was up against Queensland in the just-concluded final of the 2020-21 edition of the Sheffield Shield tournament. Queensland, under the leadership of Usman Khawaja, scripted a wonderful victory as they won the final by an innings and 33 runs to lift the elite trophy.

During the game, the fans were entertained with a hilarious incident as Australian teammates Marnus Labuschagne and veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon were seen cuddling on the ground. The incident took place during Queensland’s batting innings when they were trying to match up to the 143 runs posted by New South Wales in the first innings. 

Lyon bowled a delivery to Matt Renshaw with Labuschagne at the non-striker’s end. Renshaw hit the ball down the ground and in a bid to stop the ball, Lyon collided with Labuschagne, who was trying to get his bat grounded. Both the cricketers fell on the pitch and got indulged in a brief cuddle that resulted in an awkward yet hilarious situation.

The video of the same was shared by the official Twitter handle of cricket.com.au with the caption, “Time for a cuddle! #SheffieldShield,” the caption read. 

Marnus Labuschagne scores 192 in the first innings

Batting first, New South Wales collapsed after scoring just 143 runs in 62.2 overs. The skipper Kurtis Patterson emerged as the highest run-getter with 43 runs off 128 deliveries. For Queensland, Michael Neser emerged as the wrecker-in-chief as he ran through the opposition’s batting line-up to pick as many as five wickets.

Apart from Neser, Jack Wildermuth scalped four wickets while Brendan Doggett had one under his belt. In the second innings, Queensland batters launched an assault on the opposition bowlers as they scored a stunning 389 runs. Labuschagne was at his fluent best with the willow as he smashed 192 runs to propel his team towards a mammoth total.

The third innings saw New South Wales again getting succumbed to a collapse as they could collect just 213 runs with Matthew Gikes as the highest run-getter with 37 runs. This time around, Mitchell Swepson, Brendan Doggett, and Xavier Bartlett took three wickets each.