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WTC Final: Aussies stamp authority at Oval as India's top order fails to deliver

WTC Final: Aussies stamp authority at Oval as India's top order fails to deliver

WTC Final: Aussies stamp authority at Oval as India's top order fails to deliver

Australia have stamped their authority on the World Test Championship (WTC) final after they dominated Day 2 of the Oval Test with both bat and ball on Thursday, June 8. After getting bowled out for 469, their bowlers did the trick with the ball and limited India to 151/5, with top-order batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli already back in the pavilion. As things stand, India still trail by 318 runs in the first innings and need 118 runs to avoid follow-on.

India's collapse with bat

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After bowling out Australia, the Indian team needed a good start to stay in the hunt of the Aussies, but things did not go according to plan for Rohit Sharma’s team. India lost the skipper on 15 on the final ball of the sixth over. Soon India lost Shubman Gill as he missed judged the flight of the delivery and was scalped by Scott Boland on 13 in the very next over. At tea, India were 37/2 with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle and trying to steer the team to a safe position.

However, in the post-lunch session, India lost both Pujara (14) and Kohli (14) as the situation went from bad to worse at 71/4.

Jadeja and Rahane hold firm for India

With wickets following at regular intervals new batters Ajinkya Rahane (unbeaten 29) and Ravindra Jadeja (48) steered India to the 100-run mark. Jadeja was aggressive of the two and scored 48 off just 51 deliveries, while Rahane held one end for the Indian side. Jadeja’s innings consisted of a six and seven fours. Both Rahane and Jadeja put in a 71-run stand for the fifth wicket before Nathan Lyon got the better of him.

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Smith scores 31st Test ton

Earlier in the day, Smith reached his 31st hundred for the Aussies in the Test format. The New South Wales batter leapfrogged Matthew Hayden for most Test hundreds while also bringing up his 43rd international ton. Only Steve Waugh (32) and Ricky Ponting (41) have reached the triple-figure mark on more occasions. Australia would later end their innings at 469 after they were bowled out by Indian bowlers.

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About the Author

Aditya Vidyadhar Pimpale

Parth Seth is a research fellow at India Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, where he studies the themes of development, foreign policy, and multilateralism, particularly in ...Read More