The ICC World Test Championship final between India and Australia kickstarted on Wednesday at the Oval. Rohit Sharma’s team won the toss and decided to bowl first against the Kangaroos. The Indian team came in with four seamers and opted for Ravindra Jadeja over Ravichandran Ashwin.
Talented Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj provided India with an early blow as he scalped the wicket of Usman Khawaja. But then David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne had other plans as they built a 69-run stand for the second wicket for Australia. India’s Shardul Thakur got rid of Warner then and Mohammed Shami on the other side delivered a ripper to clean up Labuschagne. Shami bowled a full-length delivery and invited Labuschagne to drive the ball but then the ball came in and rattled the stumps.
Earlier Australia ended the day by putting 327/3 on the board at the stumps on Day 1 of the World Test Championship final at The Oval on Wednesday. Travis Head and Steve Smith kept on punishing the Indian bowlers and forged a 251-run unbeaten stand for the fourth wicket and put their team in a commanding position. Head is still batting at 146 while Smith is just five runs short of his century.
India's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia Playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
Brief Scores: Australia 327/3 in 85 overs (Travis Head 146 not out, Steve Smith 95 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/67, Shardul Thakur 1/75) against India