WTC Final Ind vs Aus: On the opening day of the World Test Championship final at The Oval, Travis Head hit a brilliant century to put Australia in a commanding position against India.
With 146 not out from 156 balls before this summer’s clash against England, the left-hander, who won player of the series in the previous Ashes, served as a reminder of his talent.
Head and Steve Smith shared a 251-run unbroken run while Smith appeared in perilous form for his undefeated 95. At the close, Australia was 327-3 thanks to the fourth-wicket partnership.
India chose to bowl first on a green surface under a grey sky after being defeated in the first Test Championship final two years ago, and they brought Australia down to 76-3. However, when the going got easier for batting, India’s backup seamers were unable to handle the threat posed by the new-ball bowlers, and Rohit Sharma’s team may have regretted leaving off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
It was an exciting day of Test cricket, featuring the top two sides from the previous two years squaring off in testing conditions that evolved throughout the match.
Even though it was difficult to fault India for wanting to bowl first, it may have been a good toss for Australia to lose given the pitch’s less erratic behaviour and steadier bounce after lunch.
However, despite some excellent new-ball bowling from Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, Australia still had to put in a lot of effort to be in a position to profit. The second-wicket stand of 69 runs between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne was crucial. Labuschagne and Siraj engaged in an exciting bout, and Head later jostled with the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.
WTC Final Ind vs Aus Scorecard
Australia 1st Innings
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Warner | c †Bharat b Thakur | 43 | 60 | 108 | 8 | 0 | 71.66 | ||
| Usman Khawaja | c †Bharat b Mohammed Siraj | 0 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Marnus Labuschagne | b Mohammed Shami | 26 | 62 | 103 | 3 | 0 | 41.93 | ||
| Steven Smith | not out | 95 | 227 | – | 14 | 0 | 41.85 | ||
| Travis Head | not out | 146 | 156 | – | 22 | 1 | 93.58 | ||
| Extras | (b 1, lb 5, nb 5, w 6) | 17 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 85 Ov (RR: 3.84) | 327/3 | |||||||
| Yet to bat: Cameron Green, Alex Carey †, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland | |||||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Usman Khawaja, 3.4 ov), 2-71 (David Warner, 21.4 ov), 3-76 (Marnus Labuschagne, 24.1 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Shami | 20 | 3 | 77 | 1 | 3.85 | 1 | 0 |
| Mohammed Siraj | 19 | 4 | 67 | 1 | 3.52 | 1 | 1 |
| Umesh Yadav | 14 | 4 | 54 | 0 | 3.85 | 0 | 0 |
| Shardul Thakur | 18 | 2 | 75 | 1 | 4.16 | 0 | 4 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 14 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 3.42 | 0 | 0 |
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