UNITED KINGDOM: The WTC final of India vs Australia has completed its day 2. Australia started day 2 with Steven Smith and Travis Head still on the crease.
Head went on to score a huge score of 163 off just 174 balls, and his innings consisted of 25 boundaries and a six. This is Head’s first-ever century overseas, and this also becomes the first century in the WTC final.
Steven Smith also joined the party and completed his century (121) by hitting two consecutive boundaries to Mohammed Siraj. This was Smith’s 31st century, and he now also equals Steve Waugh’s record of most centuries in England by a visiting batter (7).
The huge 285 partnership was broken by Siraj as he finally removed Head. Soon after Head’s departure, Mohammed Shammi dismissed Cameron Green, and Shardul Thakur took Smith to shift the game’s momentum a bit towards India (IND).
Alex Carey played a handy inning of 42 to help reach Australia (AUS) above 450. But soon after Ravindra Jadeja removed Carey, AUS bundled out for 469. It was a fighting performance from IND on day 2, as they allowed only 108 runs for the last 7 wickets.
Siraj scalped 4 wickets, while Shami and Jadeja took 2 wickets each. The Indian comeback did not last long, as their innings started on a disastrous note. After scoring quick 30 runs, both Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma lost their wicket in back-to-back overs.
Cheteshwar Pujara was looking good as he flicked a couple of deliveries for boundaries, but he made the same mistake as Gill. He left the incoming delivery of Cameron Green and got bowled the same way Gill left Scott Boland’s delivery. The length of both balls was exactly the same.
Adding to India’s misery, Mitchell Starc got the prize wicket of Virat Kohli. The ball bounced a little more than expected and hit Kohli’s glove, and Smith took a comfortable catch at the slips.
This left IND struggling 71/4. Ajinkya Rahane and Jadeja made a 50 runs partnership from here to give IND some stability. Jadeja started scoring runs quickly by playing nice conventional shots. He scored 48 runs in just 51 balls before edging to Nathan Lyon.
Jadeja was the only player from IND who looked like a batter on day 2. The game is now slipping rapidly from India’s grip, and they need a huge partnership from here to recover, which is looking harder at the moment.
Day 2: IND-151/5
A.Rahane: 29* (71), S.Bharat: 5* (14)
M.Starc: 1/52, S. Boland: 1/29
Also Read: WTC Final India Vs Australia: Head and Smith Dominates Day 1
