WTC final Live Report - Australia vs India at The Oval

Stumps

Day 1 - India chose to field.

9h ago

Travis Head had a day he will remember and vindication he will savour. From starting the year with his team dropping him because his numbers in the subcontinent were poor to now, scoring 146 off just 156 balls on a green pitch in the World Test Championship final after being put in to bat by the opposition.

India might count themselves a little bit unlucky. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj allowed only 29 runs in the first 12 overs. All the bowlers put together produced 104 false shots through the entire day. Only three of them resulted in wickets. Head mis-hit 17 of his first 77 deliveries, a rate of one in four. Coming from the IPL, from bowling four overs a night, to bowling 20 all by yourself, India tired out in the final session, when the scoring rate boomed to 4.62

Amid all this was Steven Smith doing Steven Smith things. Early on, he took 12 balls to move from 13 to 15. In that time, he got hit on the body by Siraj bringing the ball in. He was beat on the outside edge with Thakur swinging the ball away. Every time, he's gestured to his partner - or maybe just to himself - what the ball did to trouble him.

He also complained to the umps about the Spidercam, which is usually somewhere over square leg or midwicket, coming into his eyeline. Who watches stuff high over square leg when they're getting ready to bat? This is the extent to which Smith immerses himself in his batting. He was 95 off 227 at stumps.

India kept control when Shami and Siraj operated. They gave away only 19 boundaries in 234 balls. But when the change bowlers came, the runs flowed. Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav were hit for 23 boundaries in 192 balls. Umesh was particularly rusty, which happens when you haven't bowled in over a month and are coming back from injury. He played ahead of R Ashwin on a pitch that the experts say will take turn on day five.

9h ago

But its not working for them. Even their gun bowlers, Shami and SIraj, are going for boundaries now.

Ricky Ponting on air during a game is so so good. He spots how all three India fast bowlers - Shami, Siraj and Thakur - are all bending their front legs when letting the ball go. Siraj and Shami don't do that usually. Their front leg is braced when they're in top form. The fact that it is bending now suggests they are tired. They're pushing 20 overs today. Head and Smith have brought up 200 of the partnership.

12 maidens in 78 overs for India.

10h ago

Australia are winning the little moments too.

India brought Jadeja back to give Shami a rest after he bowled seven overs straight late in the day.

Smith sees that as an opportunity and launches the spinner, literally. One of those fours was a down the track hack over long-off. And with fielder up inside the circle, it was a very safe shot.

Australia know if they take Jadeja apart here, India will have to go back to their quicks. And Umesh Yadav spent a bunch of time off the field. He's only just returned so he probably can't bowl right away.

And now Shardul Thakur is seen with the physio, who is stretching out his left leg.

4.8 runs per over. Australia's scoring rate since tea. That's 77 runs in 16 overs with nine fours and a six

Travis Head has his first Test century away from home on a green pitch in the World Test Championship final at a strike rate of nearly run a ball.

That works in favour of the comparison. Gilly always scored quickly but he's an all-time great. This innings has been a bit of a coutnerattack too. India had picked up a wicket very early after lunch to bring him in.

Ironically, it's only now that he seems to be in a bit of bother because India are actively bouncing him. On 99, he got a rip-snorter from Shami, the ball going on with the angle from over the wicket, rising above his chest when he himself had risen off the ground, and leaving him and behind like he was nothing. There's juice in this pitch. There's still juice.

110 Steven Smith's average at The Oval from four Tests. He's got two hundreds and, now, two fifties.

He has 68 half-centuries in Test cricket. And the fact that he's added to them at the start of a huuuuuuge summer for Australia will bode well for them. They're really keen to win this game, and the Ashes that follows, recording a first series win in England since 2001.

10h ago

11h ago

11h ago

Nagraj Gollapudi recalls how India picked a similar bowling attack for the Test against Engalnd at The Oval in 2021. Four seamers, one spinner, and they won then.

The captain Rohit Sharma said as much in his pre-match briefing yesterday that they were leaning towards 4-1 again based on that Test, where conditions change quickly and reverse swing comes into play

The one crucial thing missing in this game is the control and discipline of India's fast men who back then held a grip on England battters

Barring that first hour which started with two maidens from Shami and Siraj and only 29 runs came, the lack of consistent pressure has been a problem.

Australia are 170 for 3 at tea, scoring 97 runs in 28 overs in the middle session at 3.46 rpo.

He was 28 off 20 balls.

He came in at a time when India would've though they'd corrected the mistakes of the morning.

And he counterattacked. He got boundaries away off their best bowlers - Siraj (3) and Shami (3).

Australia value Head playing this kind of role in the middle order; playing at his pace, at a strike rate near enough to 100 whatever the match situation.

That wagon wheel shows he's profited from India giving him width outside off stump, and going too full on the pads, allowing him to access midwicket. It also shows, from the lack of runs behind square, that they haven't gone short enough at him.

81 Travis Head's strike rate in the 2021-23 WTC cycle. Only the Bazballing Ben Duckett (96) and Harry Brook (92) do better with a min cut-off of 200 runs scored.

12h ago

This is Shardul Thakur in the 38th over. The thing with him is, he looks to bowl full. And in doing that, he sometimes gets driven away for fours and flicked away for fours. This is the method that brings him wickets, that helps India break partnerships. He won't change. He probably shouldn't change. But the way the game does when India's two best bowlers - Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj - are off is hard to ignore.

13 boundaries in 90 balls from Thakur and Umesh (6.92 balls per boundary) at the end of 38 overs. Only nine boundaries in 138 balls from SIraj and Shami (15.33 balls per boundary)

12 balls to move from 13 to 15.

In that time, he's got hit on the body by Siraj bringing the ball in.

He's been beat on the outside edge with Thakur swinging the ball away.

Every time, he's gestured to his partner - or maybe just to himself - what the ball did to trouble him.

He's also complained to the umps about something high over square leg getting in his eyeline. Is there a spidercam at the Oval? Yes there is, confirms Nagraj from the ground. But who watches stuff high over square leg when they're getting ready to bat?

This is the extent to which Smith immerses himself in his batting. He's 15 off 55 but he's so engaging.

4 runs per over. Australia scoring rate in the first hour after lunch. That's 52 runs in 13 overs.

Nasser Hussain, on the broadcast, said this is exactly how he expected the pitch to play. That The Oval has never been a minefield and once the sun is out, it's loads of fun for a batter. The sun is out right now.

Australia pulling away. And Travis Head is leading them. Since coming in during the 25th over, he has hit all but one of their boundaries. It is now the 32nd and he's 29 off 21.

He's had occasion to free the arms. He's been fed full on his pads. A batter who does have a bit of a weakness against the short ball at high pace has been given gifts

13h ago

Steven Smith had a top score of 38 in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

He was dismissed five times in that series in seven innings. All of them to Ravindra Jadeja whose role will be very diminished here in England and R Ashwin who isn't even playing

Smith's vast reserves of concentration, his love for batting, and his exceptional hand-eye coordination has often allowed him to dominate India's fast bowlers. Check out how high his average is against them.

He's walking across the stumps, like he usually does. That should bring lbw into play but it never does because Smith is too good at bringing his bat down before it hits his pad. He suckers bowlers into bowling too straight and he picks them off for runs.

He also plays late and with soft hands. That prevents chances of an edge carrying through to the keeper.

Travball pre-dated Bazball by more than six months. During that last Ashes, Head had a strike rate of 86.02 across the four matches he was able to play, wrote Andrew McGlashan ahead of this match.

He's hit four of the first 12 balls he's faced to the boundary.

13h ago

It is understandable that the ground isn't full considering the home team is not in action. Hopefully those people who must have paid premium prices for those tickets are able to come and take in the action. Because marketing would never lie about an event being sold out, would they?

Test cricket needs an audience bad. But that first session had only 23 overs, if that rate continues, in a day that's meant to have 90 overs of cricket, we'll only get 69. Who will pay to be robbed of 1/5th of the action they paid for? Fewer overs would be fine if the actual action is engaging - and the first session certainly was engaging. The problem is, T20s are just more appealing; it makes fewer demands on our time and it gives bigger thrills.

Nagraj Gollapudi report from the Oval: Australia coach Andrew McDonald watched intently from one side. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, flicking a rugby ball in hand, also watched from close. They would be soon joined by The Oval curator Lee Fortis, who would have a brief chat with McDonald. R Ashwin and then Kumar Sangakkarra would follow the Aussie and inspect closely.

The focus of attention was a spot on the good length area outside off stump at the Vauxhall End from where Mohammed Siraj had managed to extract wicked bounce including the lifter that knocked Marnus Labuschagne hard on his left thumb and forced him to instantly drop his bat while wincing in pain. So each of these men peered hard and close for several moments, looking at this spot as if it was an invaluable piece of art.

Wonder if even Fortis knew what caused Siraj to get that awkward bounce more than once from this spot. Expect the attention on this small patch of the green to remain, a spot that has put batters in spot of bother.

14h ago

Australia are in control. They go to lunch at 73 for 2 with the sun shining bright at The Oval. It was in hiding when the toss happened and India chose to bowl seeing the cloud cover. Until very recently, they had only one wicket to show for that gamble.

Then David Warner got caught down the leg side for 43 off 60. A total bonus because he was looking good. He weathered a tricky first hour where Mohammad Shami, in particular, caused him plenty of problems from that much-talked-about around the wicket line. He started to get his rewards by latching onto some loose offering from Umesh Yadav. The pitch continues to play a few tricks but his footwork was looking more secure and confident until the anti-climactic dismissal.

India have made little mistakes, like maybe bowling Siraj and Shami for six-over first spells, instead of rationing one of them so that they could come back and bowl again before lunch. They could've bowled fuller in the first hour; the length that brought them the wicket of Usman Khawaja. Clever Labuschagne started batting out of his crease and forced their length back away from the full zone. That was maybe a sign of the experience he's gained playing county cricket this season.

India, meanwhile, were busy with the IPL and their weakest link here, Umesh Yadav, is coming back from injury. They began really well, and with the movement still on offer, they kept looking for wickets, going straight at the stumps. That's resulted in the runs coming at 3.17 an over this session. At some point, they'll think about throttling back. They're not there yet, but if these two Australians bed in - and they usually love batting together - it could be trouble.

7 fours in six overs since India went to their change bowlers Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav

Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj bowled 12 overs in tandem for only two fours. Australia have done really really well. And now, with the sun out and none of that pesky cloud cover, they can really dictate terms.

David Warner and Marnus Labuschage have history when it comes to putting up huuuuuge partnerships: 172 vs England in Adelaide and 156 vs England in Brisbane both in the 2021-22 Ashes.

Labuschagne is actively messing with India's bowlers too, by standing way outside his crease. He's been rapped on the pads twice because there is still plenty of seam movement on offer. But both times, because the ball had a lot of distance left to travel, DRS returned a not out verdict. It's forced India to bring their wicketkeeper up in the 20th over for Thakur.

60% of India's deliveries until the 13th over were on a good length (6-8m from the batter). Those produce balls that beat the edge and while they look good, batters are happy to see them off.

Both Labuschagne and Warner have been very very careful not to follow the ball; to play the initial line and then be happy to be done on the outside edge.

Khawaja plays the same way. He did in India where he was very good against their spinners and the balls that went straight on. Here he lost his wicket because the ball was fuller (pitching 4-6m from the batter); because it didn't have the distance to move past the bat; just the distance to take the edge. India bowled only 20% at this length in this time.

The bigger the distance between the ball pitching and the bat, more is the chance for a ball that is seaming to beat the edge.

The shorter the distance between the ball pitching and the bat, more is the chance that seam movement actually takes the edge. That's why people tell bowlers to bowl full. That's the length Shardul Thakur bowls, he's into the attack.

But Umesh Yadav has a tendency to spray it around and he has. Coming back from injury, and no cricket for over a month, here are his first two overs at The Oval

15h ago

Andrew Miller, UK editor, writes: Stuart Broad, Australia’s favourite anti-hero, was doing the media rounds again at Lord’s yesterday, where - to widespread astonishment - he declared he “didn’t want to upset any more Aussies” when asked his views on who he’d like to win the World Test Championship. Even so, he still couldn’t quite help himself.

“I would like it to be an old-school hard-fought Test match where India do really well,” he said. “Get [Cheteshwar] Pujara booked in nicely, and then [Virat] Kohli comes in and scores a great hundred, and it will be a good spectacle for the game.

“Ultimately you want a close tightly fought game, you don’t want a 60-all-out plays an 80-all-out, you want 350 plays 350, that goes down to the wire. We’ve been part of multiple games that have gone down to the last ball in this last year, New Zealand went two in row, that sort of drama would be unbelievable.”

Broad’s more measured take was perhaps in part due to some recent comments from his old adversary, David Warner, which were in their own way, equally surprising.

“He said I was a good bloke, did you see that?” Broad said. “I got so many WhatsApps about that, but I’ll take that!” Broad has been on the receiving end of several of Warner’s greatest onslaughts, not least the trio of second-innings blitzes that set up the 2013-14 whitewash. However, he memorably claimed the upper hand on the last tour of England, dismissing him seven times out of ten as Warner averaged 9.50 for the series.

“I’ve loved every bit of our – I don’t know if it’s a rivalry – but it’s been a great battle,” Broad said, following the news that Warner will retire on home soil this winter. “I’ve had to work really hard to expose any kind of chink in his armour because he’s been so dangerous.

“I’ve no doubt he’ll have been thinking about how to counter [Broad’s threat from] 2019 this summer. We’ve both played 100 Test matches, so we’ve both got the skills in the locker to adapt to things.”

15h ago

10 false shots in the first 30 balls that Mohammed Siraj has bowled. One of them translated to Usman Khawaja's wicket

We've pushed up to an hour since the start of play. Australia are 29 for 1 in 12 overs at drinks. They won't be too displeased with that. The sun's out as well. Batting will be easier with the sun out.

India will want to go to lunch with more to show for the effort they're putting in. Siraj has been excellent. He does angles so well. And that wobble seam ball that he has, which nips into the right-hander and away from the left-hander, makes him doubly dangerous because the movement happens late. There is no hint of it as it comes out of his hand, but once it pitches, it jags sharply.

Along with that, the bounce he's getting, by hitting the pitch really hard, has caused problems too. Marnus Labushchagne copped a blow to his top hand when a back of a length ball that he was trying to leave wouldn't let him do so without causing him harm.

Not long after that, Warner was nearly bowled by a Siraj ball that keeps low.

So lets sum up Siraj.

15h ago

Shiva Jayaraman, ESPNcricinfo stats super duper expert: Does Shami need to adjust his lengths in England?

In Tests in England since 2018, and before this series, Mohammed Shami has induced false shots to 26.5% of the balls. Among 29 bowlers who’ve delivered at least 100 overs since the start of the English summer in 2018, only Ollie Robinson has managed to induce a higher percentage of false shots from batters than Shami.

Data suggests that nearly half of the wickets that have fallen to pacers in England since 2018, have been off the good length. Pacers average 18.76 and have taken 430 of their 900 wickets from that length.

The ball probably does a lot more for Shami in England than it does elsewhere. Shami has seen success bowling back-of-length balls in conditions that don’t offer him as much movement. The ball that does just enough in other countries, perhaps does too much by the time it reaches the batter in England.

Shami has averaged 19.14 bowling back-of-the-length outside England and strikes every 43.2 balls since 2018. In England though, he averages a poor 48.3 in comparison and gets a wicket every 95 balls only. Moreover, Shami seems to go a lot shorter in England than he does elsewhere. Since 2018, 28.8% of his balls have been short-of-good-length outside England. In England, it goes up to 32.3%.

16h ago

64% David Warner's control percentage in the first half hour. He's 13 off 22 in the seventh over with one boundary

An opener in England has to expect to look out of sorts on the first day of a Test match. Especially when its overcast.

What Warner is doing well is he is putting those balls he isn't hitting properly behind him and he's getting ready for the next one with the same intent.

Early on he was really keen to drop and run, but India weren't giving him that release.

In Australia, Warner would play with hard hands. Here, he took a three down the ground which was little more than a block. He's playing like this because he knows the odds are weighted against him. He also knows the weather clears up this afternoon and in bright sunshine he will be a huge danger.

16h ago

Mohammed Shami's first over.

Mohammed Siraj's first over

Shami's second over. Australia's first runs after 15 balls.

Siraj's second over. India's first wicket

India choosing to bowl was contingent on their quicks making a good start. The overcast conditions right now are expected to clear up in the afternoon. We're looking at a good batting day later on.

There was a ball from Shami that Warner left, because it pitched waaaay outside off, but then it jagged back in and nearly toppled his stumps.

Another one, angled in from around the wicket, demanding a shot from the left-hander, surged past the shoulder of his bat. The bounce that The Oval curator promised is there to see. India are on the money in this Test, even though they're coming from over two months of T20 cricket.

There's been early vindication for their decision making as well. KS Bharat as wicketkeeper saved four byes - that ball that nearly bowled Warner wobbled after passing the wickets and could easily have run away if not for his intervention.

16h ago

India have decided to bowl first - captains have bowled first in six out of the last 10 Tests at the Oval. Rohit confirms "we've got four seamers and one spinner and the spinner is Ravindra Jadeja." He admits leaving R Ashwin out wasn't "a great occasion". Ajinkya Rahane makes his return to the XI in a while. KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan to keep wicket.

Cummins says he would've bowled as well and confirms Scott Boland takes the injured Hazlewood's place

Australia DA Warner, UT Khawaja, M Labuschagne, SPD Smith, TM Head, C Green, AT Carey†, MA Starc, PJ Cummins*, NM Lyon, SM Boland

India RG Sharma*, Shubman Gill, CA Pujara, V Kohli, AM Rahane, KS Bharat†, RA Jadeja, SN Thakur, UT Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Nagraj Gollapudi, who is lurking somewhere at The Oval, informs us that it looks like Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are definitely playing. So it is between R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav for the final spot. He also reports that KS Bharat is likely to be the wicketkeeper.

The pitch for the first Test match at The Oval as early as June has 6mm of grass on it. That, along with conditions being overcast right now, might make the toss a tough one. There will be huge temptation to bowling first.

Australia have the better bowling attack for these conditions, even without Josh Hazlewood. Their XI basically picks itself.

1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland.

These conditions aren't geared to India's strength. They won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the back of their spin strength and their lower-order's batting ability.

So they have a choice to make. They might already have made it. They played two spinners in the last WTC final and lost because for all of R Ashwin's skills - and he has improved to become an all-conditions offspinner - a fast bowler will always extract more from English conditions. Especially when it rains. The first WTC final went into the reserve day with rain juicing up the pitch and helping ensure there was sideways movement all through the five match days.

India will not want to make that same mistake again. And it's likely they won't.

Another advantage for Australia here is that if the weather stays good, and the sun keeps beating down on the pitch and their big, strong left-arm seamer creates the rough offspinners love, they have batters who can bowl a few overs. (Travis Head. Steven Smith. Marnus Labuschagne)

India don't. If they feel this pitch will take turn later, they have to go with Ashwin. If they aren't sure, they have to go with seam. It's funny, right? A Test match captain, over and above being good at what he does, needs to be a fortune teller as well. He sometimes needs to know what the future holds.

Andrew McGlashan, ESPNcricinfo deputy editor: Good morning from The Oval. An overcast, cool morning but the sun is expected to burn through later. Might be an interesting decision at the toss because there's a green tinge to the pitch although that's quite normal for this ground. Spectators starting to filter in and already a few Indian flags on show. Expecting a full house. Couple of Indian support staff in the middle but players yet to emerge for warm-ups. Plenty of interest in what India do with the balance of the side. We know how Australia will line up.

When CSK won the IPL title last month, all the Chennai boys (and girls) lost their minds. (The Joker predicted this way back in 2008). People in train stations forgot all about the need to go from point A to point B and instead burst into song and dance. Pilots turned into walking talking google alert, relaying the score to their passengers along with, y’know, flying the plane. My bestie all the way out in Nashville, USA was blowing up my phone.

The IPL has been part of daily life in India for 15 years. The World Test Championship, not so much. It happens in June, which is right around the time schools open back up. That Nashbro I told you about earlier, he had no idea a tournament like this even existed. But you know what, who cares? The players love it.

The first ever champions, New Zealand, had to win all of their last few games to make the final and those stakes produced one of the greatest finishes of all time.

The very best of Virat Kohli – Adelaide 2014, Perth 2018, Edgbaston 2018 – came in whites. Pat Cummins has no claim to being the best fast bowler in the world if this format didn’t exist because this is the format where he keeps knocking over Joe Root’s off stump.

The players love Test cricket. They go above and beyond for Test cricket. And that makes for fun viewing. And when the viewing is fun, the fans will be back, the broadcast numbers will rise, the sponsors will return and Test cricket will be saved.

The players – and this World Test Championship – will save Test cricket.

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