IND vs AUS, WTC 2023 Final Day 1 Stats Review: Travis Head’s first ton away from home, Steven Smith’s dominance and other stats

Travis Head smashed his sixth Test century (146*), his first away from home while Steven Smith also remained not out on 95 as Australia dominated team India by smashing 327/3 on Day 1 of WTC Final 2023 at The Oval in London. The duo added an unbeaten 251 runs for the fourth wicket as they piled misery on the Indian bowlers on the opening day of the summit clash.

Speaking about how the day panned out, skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss, and India elected to field first. Usman Khawaja got dismissed for a duck off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj while David Warner racked up 43 before getting out to Shardul Thakur. Marnus Labuschagne scored 26 before falling prey to Mohammed Shami. The rest of the day completely belonged to the Aussie pair of Head and Smith.

The former counter-attacked brilliantly right from the moment he came out to bat in the middle. He got solid support from Smith, who played a typical 'Smith' innings of 95* off 227 with the help of 14 fours. Head’s knock included 22 fours and a maximum off just 156 deliveries as the Indians had no answer whatsoever against his attacking approach. Rohit and his side will look to claim early wickets on Day 2 before the game is slipped away from their hands.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023 between India and Australia:

50 – Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins featured in their respective 50^th Test match.

1 – Travis Head became the first player to smash a century in a WTC final.

1 – Head slammed his first Test century away from home. He has six hundreds to his name, five of those coming in Australia.

14 – Steven Smith is now joint-second with Matthew Hayden for the most 50-plus scores (14) for Australia against India in Tests. Ricky Ponting tops the chart with 20 such scores.

251* - Head and Smith registered the third-highest fourth-wicket partnership of 251* for Australia against India. They went past Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke’s tally of 210 runs in Adelaide in 2008. The same duo is in the first two spots for sharing 386 and 288 runs stand in Adelaide and Sydney respectively, both in the year 2012.

68 – Smith has now struck the fourth-most 50-plus scores (68) for the Aussies in Test cricket. He surpassed Mark Waugh’s tally of 67 such scores. Ricky Ponting (103), Allan Border (90), and Steve Waugh (82) are in the top three positions.

121.50 – Smith has hammered 486 runs in just six innings at a staggering average of 121.50 with two centuries and as many fifties in Tests at The Oval.

251* - Head and Smith recorded the second-highest fourth wicket partnership of 251* in Tests at The Oval. They surpassed Don Bradman and Archie Jackson’s stand of 243 against England that came in 1930. Wally Hammond and Stan Worthington shared a 266-run partnership against India in 1936.

5 – Smith has now struck the most 50-plus scores (five) for Australia in ICC Knockout games. He went past Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson, who both had four such scores.