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Two giants, India and Australia, are fighting for the honor of winning the ICC World Test Championship at The Oval. The Aussies have already scored 469 runs in their first innings, while India are trailing the Aussies on Day 2. The third session of the 2nd day is underway, where Australia are in the driving seat.
Toss: Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, won the toss and decided to bowl first in the final.
1st Innings of Australia
Losing the toss, Australia started their batting innings with David Warner and Usman Khwaja. Unfortunately, they had a bad start in the first innings. Opener Usman Khwaja had gone duck as Mohammad Siraj picked him up in the 4th over.
After that, David Warner tried to tackle the disaster with Marnus Labuschagne. But their partnership couldn’t contribute more than 69 runs. Australia lost two quick wickets between 22 to 25 overs. First, David Warner lost his wicket after scoring 43 runs. A few moments later, Labuschagne followed the same way.
Losing three wickets in 76 runs, Australia were under tremendous pressure. But it was Steve Smith and Travis Head who changed the game completely. Relying on these two batters, Australia were getting their momentum back.
The two batters had nerves of steel, obviously, that was heading the team toward a massive score. From 76 for 3, the two batters carried the team by making a massive partnership of 285 runs. Travis Head was a bit more aggressive than Steve Smith. Before leaving the crease, Head scored a brilliant century with 163 runs.
On the other hand, Steve Smith also touched the landmark. He scored 121 runs with 19 fours before losing his wicket to Shardul Thakur. However, Alex Carey also contributed 48 runs to the team. Relying on these runs, Australia ended their first innings with 469 runs. Mohammad Siraj picked up four wickets for India, while Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur got two wickets for each.
India’s top order collapsed
India’s top order has collapsed already. Skipper Rohit Sharma departed the crease after being LBW by Pat Cummins. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara also failed to contribute much. After losing three wickets in 50 runs, India’s all hope was on Virat Kohli’s shoulder.
Unfortunately, Kohli couldn’t survive long. The former skipper lost his wicket after scoring 14 runs only. However, Ravindra Jadeja tried to accelerate the scoreboard. But his quick innings of 48 runs from 51 balls came to an end when Lathan Lyon picked him up in the 35th over. As of now, India have scored 143 for 5 wickets.
