WTC 2023 Final: Play of the day from AUS vs IND Test

The much-awaited World Test Championship final 2023 got underway on June 7 at The Oval in London as Australia and India locked horns in the summit clash. Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green wicket amid overcast conditions. Mohammed Siraj got the first breakthrough for India as he dismissed Usman Khawaja for a ten-ball duck in the fourth over of the day. Following his dismissal, his opening partner, Warner led the charge for Australia.

After setting his eye on the prize early on, the southpaw opened up his arms and started attacking the Indian bowling attack. During the 15^th over of the innings, he took on Umesh Yadav and smacked four boundaries in his over. The southpaw made full use of the width on offer and kept cutting the right arm seamer for boundaries on the off side.

Following Warner’s blitzkrieg, Yadav’s figures read 0/21 after two overs. However, despite looking in great rhythm, the opening batter got dismissed in the 22^nd over trying to pull a delivery down the leg side by Shardul Thakur. Warner departed for 43 (60) smashing eight boundaries in his innings.

Steve Smith and Travis Head steady Australia's ship

After his dismissal, India got another success as Mohammed Shami cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne early in the second session leaving Australia on 76/3 after 24.1 overs. Just when everything looked good for India, a massive partnership between Steve Smith and Travis Head took the game out of India’s grasp.

The duo took Australia’s total past 200 and sucked the juice out of the Indian pace attack. Head batted with complete freedom and brought up his half-century off just 60 balls with the help of nine fours. On the other hand, Smith played second fiddle and rotated the strike regularly. Smith brought up his fifty in the third session as the duo completed their unbeaten 150-run stand with Australia reaching 226/3 after 62 overs.