‘You cannot drop Marnus Labuschagne’: New Zealand pay price for Todd Astle’s massive blunder - WATCH

Australia vs New Zealand: Todd Astle dropped an easy return catch of Marnus Labuschagne on Day 4 of the 3rd Test.

New Zealand rookie spinner Todd Astle committed a massive blunder on Day 4 of the 3rd Test against Australia. The right-arm spinner was presented with the opportunity to get the precious wicket of Australia’s rising star Marnus Labuschagne when he was just batting at 4. He pitched the ball straight up which Labuschagne returned right back into his hands. But Astle failed to grab hold of the ball and it just popped out of his hands.

New Zealand's Todd Astle drops a chance to dismiss Australia's Marnus Labuschagne. (AP)

Knowing the importance of the wicket, Astle remained on the ground for a few seconds with his hands on his head. Labuschagne has been in an impressive form since last month, and also scored a double ton in the first innings in the same match. His dismissal might have given the Kiwis much-needed motivation to find some way back into the match.

“Oh dropped him, can u believe it?,” Former Australia cricketer Shane Warne, who was on the commentary at the time, said. His fellow commentator added: “Well, as far as caught and bowls come, we saw Nathan Lyon drop a couple yesterday. This is as easy as they come.”

Even Cricket Australia expressed their surprise over the dropped catch in a tweet: “You cannot drop Marnus Labuschagne,” the tweet said.

Labuschagne made most of the lifeline handed to him, and went on to smash a half century, before he was eventually dismissed by Matt Henry for 59. His 110-run partnership with David Warner allowed Australia to take a mammoth lead of 415 runs, before declaring the innings.

Nathan Lyon took five for 50 to finish with 10 wickets in the match as the Black Caps were routed for 136 in the 2nd innings. With a 279-run win, Australia clean-sweeped the Test series 3-0 in Sydney.