UNITED KINGDOM: India (IND) won the toss and elected to bowl first in the WTC 23 final between India and Australia (AUS) at the Oval.
The conditions were overcast, and that caused initial trouble for Australian batsmen. Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shammi both bowled tough lengths and showed an attacking approach.
Usman Khawaja soon lost a wicket to Siraj, and the score was only two runs, but David Warner showed some guts in the middle and went on to play a helpful knock of 43 runs before getting out to Shardul Thakur.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne made a 50-run partnership to help AUS recover from an early loss.
Labuschagne looked very good early in the innings with his solid drives and defence, but he completely lost Shammi’s Inswinging delivery and got bowled on 26.
AUS was 76-3 at the start of the second session, and so far, the game was in India’s grip.
After this scenario, Steve Smith and Travis Head totally took the game away from IND on day 1.
Travis Head came in the middle and started scoring runs quickly, as he naturally plays. Steve Smith, on the other hand, played cautiously and took his time before scoring runs.
This mixture of caution and aggression from Head and Smith turned out to be frustrating for IND and beneficial for AUS.
Smith and Head made a humongous partnership of 200 runs. Head scored a brilliant century (146), his first against IND, and Smith is close to his century (95). Day 1 clearly belongs to Australia, more specifically to Smith and Head, as they dominated Indian bowlers.
IND will look for a breakthrough as they must have to restrict AUS from coming back into the game.
Day 1: AUS:327/3
S. Smith 95*: (227), T. Head: 146*(156), M. Shami: 1/77, M. Siraj: 1/67
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