Twitter Reactions: Australia in command after Steve Smith and Travis Head's momentous stand on Day 1
Travis Head's sizzling century, coupled with Steve Smith's defiance, deflated the Indians on the opening day of the WTC Final.
Pat Cummins' Australia are in a formidable position in the World Test Championship Final against India after the end of play on the opening day, thanks to Travis Head and Steve Smith's sensational partnership. The duo undid India's early advantage in the summit clash, largely due to Head's swashbuckling century.
The summit clash started with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma winning the toss and bowling first on a seemingly bowling-friendly track at The Oval. The influential skipper took a bit of flak from several former cricketers including Australian icon Ricky Ponting after Rohit decided to drop Ravichandran Ashwin in favour of Shardul Thakur.
While Ashwin's omission bemused a few, star Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj further enhanced his reputation in red-ball cricket after dismissing Usman Khawaja for a duck in his second over of the match. Despite that early wicket, Australia kept themselves in the contest in a hard-fought first session, only to lose the well-set David Warner to a tame dismissal on the stroke of Lunch.
If the first session ended on a high note for the Indians, the second got off to an even better start after Mohammed Shami cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne with a peach on the very first delivery after Lunch. India were in the ascendency, eyeing further erodes in the Australian batting line-up. But their plan came unstuck when Australia's ace in the hole, Travis Head, walked into the middle.
Australia breeze to a commanding position after a wicketless third session
The explosive batter took full liberties against the Indian pacers, ensuring a rollicking second session for the Aussies. While his batting partner Steve Smith stuck to his trademark approach, Head took charge of the proceedings with a swashbuckling century, his first away from home and against India.
Indian blowers looked clueless against the pair as the Australian duo stitched a remarkable stand for the fourth wicket, taking the Aussies to a commanding position in the match. The floodgates well and truly opened at the fag end of the day when the Indian pacers got their hands on the second new ball, despite a fair bit of movement late in the day. Both batters returned unbeaten at the crease, with Smith nearing yet another Test century.
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