Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne remains at the SCG crease after a contentious umpire decision saw the in-form hitter given not out off a Marco Jansen delivery following a third umpire review on the opening day of the Sydney Test.

With Australia at 1/130 and Labuschagne heading toward another Test century at 70 not out, the Queenslander's innings looked to have come to an end when a Jansen delivery caught the edge of his bat and drifted to second slip fielder Simon Harmer.

The ball was caught by Harmer, who was confident in having claimed the catch despite the ball falling close to the SCG turf.

The decision was sent upstairs by the umpires, with the soft signal being out for Labuschagne.

A lengthy review process struggled to find conclusive evidence for viewers, however TV umpire Richard Ketleborough deemed the ball had made contact with the ground whilst reaching Harmer.

Kettleborough soon confirmed the original decision of out would be overturned, seeing Labuschagne's innings remain alive.

South African players were seemingly perplexed by the call given the need for footage to be conclusive to overturn the soft signal, with some players even jokingly signalling for a review of the third umpire's decision.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar was pictured holding discussions with umpire Chris Gaffney following the decision to overturn the call, adding to a frustrating summer for South Africa.

At the time of writing Australia are 1/138, with play halted due to bad light.