Australia continue to dominate WTC Final
The match is being played at the Oval
Day two of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023 has come to an end with Australia dominating the better part of the play.
India ended the day with 151 runs for the loss of five wickets and still trail by 318 runs in the first innings.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma (15) and Shubman Gill (13) fell prey to Pat Cummins and Scott Boland respectively as Australia started off well with the ball on day two of the WTC Final.
Cheteshwar Pujara was bowled by Cameroon Green after scoring just 14 runs on 25 balls. Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc got the better of Virat Kohli, who scored just 14 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkaya Rahane’s partnership gave some stability to the Indian batting but the former too was removed by the off-spinner Nathan Lyon after scoring 48 runs.
Rahane (29) and Srikar Bharat (5) will resume batting for India on the third day.
In the first innings, Australia were all out for 469 runs thanks to a solid comeback by the Indian bowlers.
Despite getting a bright start after taking three early wickets on day one, India could not carry on the same momentum.
Usman Khawaja fell to Mohammad Siraj in just the fourth over.
David Warner gave life to Australia’s early collapse as he scored 43 runs with the help of eight fours. But he was removed by Shardul Thakur. The Aussies faced another setback as Marnus Labuschagne was bowled by Mohammad Shami just after scoring 26 runs.
Travis Head and Steve Smith took control of the match when the Aussies had lost three wickets for just 76 runs, as they created a record partnership of 285 runs for the fourth wicket at The Oval.
Head hit 163 off 174 balls with the help of 25 fours and a six. Meanwhile, Smith was the second-highest top-scorer for the Aussies as he scored 121 off 268 balls with 19 fours. Later on, wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored 48 runs while batting at number seven on day two.
Siraj took four wickets for 108 runs. Shami and Thakur both took two wickets each for 122 and 83 runs respectively. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja only managed to bag one.
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