Australia Test Champions
4 Aussie players who were part of the 2015 ODI World Cup winning squad, the 2021 T20 World Cup winning squad and this Test Championship winning squad: Think it's Warner, Smith, Starc, Cummins. Marsh was in the two white-ball squads, but here he was only a reserve. Andrew McGlashan with this super stat.
Runs for Steven Smith, including a century.
Wickets for all the bowlers, who bring their own unique threat. Pat Cummins with his pace and seam movement. Scott Boland with his accuracy. Mitchell Starc with his pace and variation. Nathan Lyon with his turn and bounce.
Over a hundred runs for the wicketkeeper Alex Carey and six catches
Travball.
Even David Warner battling on the first day in extremely trying conditions for run-scoring was a big tick.
Australia missed out on a place in the last WTC final because they had two points taken away for slow over-rate. At that point, they didn't recognise the importance of this trophy. This championship doesn't have history going for it yet. But it will. It will even save Test cricket given time.
All through their tour of India earlier this year, they might have been dreaming of this. They needed to win one of those four games to make it to The Oval. They did. And in conditions that suit them, they have been UNDENIABLY the better side. They become the first team to win all four ICC trophies - the ODI World Cup, the T20I World Cup, The Champions Trophy and now the Test Mace.
India fell behind in the first innings, giving away 469, but they hung in there from that point all the way through to the fifth day which dawned with hope. They were 164 for 3 with Kohli and Rahane in the middle of a 71-run partnership at really good time. All that fight should not go unnoticed. Through this two year cycle, they have played some excellent Test cricket. But when it came down to the biggest moments - that first day when they gave away over 300 runs - and today when they had to see off the first session, they fell short. So 234 all out. A collapse of 7 for 70 in one session's play. Those numbers will dominate coverage, but they shouldn't take away from the fight that got India to the final day with hope.
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The Kohli wicket
Nagraj Gollapudi reports on the wicket that turned this game
In 2018 Virat Kohli disrobed himself of all pretension that he was a great batter when he arrived to England leading India for a four-Test series. Kohli told himself if he needed to conquer the demonic fast bowling from James Anderson, he had to let go of more deliveries than play at. Because he had toyed around by Anderson in 2014 which gave him nightmares. So throughout that 2018 series Kohli was alert to the Anderson set-up: four or five away swinging deliveries on the same length before being caught in front stumps with a inswinger or fuller length delivery bowled on fourth stump and swing away.
Kohli arrived to the WTC final feeling both secure and top of his game. You would believe him if you had seen him score runs with verve with trademark cover drives against the fast men both on the front and back foot and flicking Nathan Lyon from outside off past long on as if he was playing white Kookaburra on flat pitches and not the Dukes on a fourth-afternoon on a slow pitch but with good bounce.
But the ball had turned soft early and the Aussies had it changed on Saturday late afternoon. This morning the pitch had more hardness with both Pat Cummins and Scott Boland were getting good bounce and seam movement.
Kohli faced just one ball in the first two overs. In the third over, from Boland, an lbw shout was turned down against him by the umpire as the ball, having nipped back from length, was going down. Kohli had faced just nine deliveries in the first innings, scoring one run, against Boland. Boland is no Anderson, but he has the England great’s skill of keeping the batter guessing every ball.
Kohli had moved one step closer to the crease in comparison to the first innings when Mitchell Starc had forced an edge after the batter found himself in an awkward position trying to play on the front foot a short-of-a-length delivery that kept rising.
By shifting his lines Boland was making Kohli guess, something the latter was mindful of: he raised both hands to leave the ball on the fourth and fifth stump, but would take a big stride each time it was pitched on length closer to the off stump. Such tight scrutiny meant Kohli needed to ensure he did not get suckered by the fuller, wider delivery. And that is what exactly happened and Steven Smith flung himself to the right pick a brilliant catch at second slip.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, of the nine deliveries pitched outside off stump he faced this Test, Kohli had let go just one: against Boland on Saturday afternoon when he was on 38. Kohli rapped his pad in disgust at his rookie error. He joined Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara, and later Rahane, in playing shots the could have avoided Test cricket: a Game of Thorns.
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Why Starc is crucial
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Mitchell Starc proves why he plays; why he'll play that first Ashes Test. He wasn't given the new ball in this innings. He didn't start play today. He leaked two boundaries in his first two overs. He's going at over five an over. But he takes wickets. Big wickets. Ajinkya Rahane gone.
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Ricky Ponting on the broadcast spoke about those fours. He is so good on the mic, btw. Like there's him, then daylight, then hell, then darkness, then every other commentator in the world. Ponting picks out a way Australia can support Starc bowling round the wicket to the two right-handers. Bring mid-off straighter
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When Starc bowls over the wicket, the angle across the right-hander means drives go squarer on the off side. Now that he's round the wicket, the angle into the right-hander means drives go straighter.
Australia didn't have to bother though because in the next Starc over, Rahane, the man who hit those two boundaries is gone.
The left-arm angle is invaluable for the variety it brings. Starc's ability to draw big shots and somehow turn them into mis-hits is invaluable. Rahane goes for an extravagant drive on the up. He hasn't tried that shot all Test match. In the first innings, he was so selective about playing away from his body. He only went for the cover drive when it was half-volley length.
This is nothing close to a half-volley. He's just thrown his hands at the ball. How many times has Starc produced this response from a batter! Rahane walks off slapping the top of his helmet, admonishing himself for making a poor poor decision.
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Rain?
Andrew McGlashan reports from The Oval: "Some clouds building up around The Oval. Chance of a thunderstorm around 2pm". We have a reserve day tomorrow to complete the game.
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Australia do it again
31 runs for two wickets in the first hour of day five at a rate of 2.58 per over
Australia have tightened up. I remember them doing something exactly like this in a day-night Ashes Test in Adelaide 2017. Joe Root spent all of the previous evening rallying the England support, making them dream of an improbable comeback. Then, Hazlewood was the guy who broke through and ended the fight. Here, its his understudy who, to borrow the words of the ball-by-ball commentator from that game six-ish years ago, "has picked up this game and smashed it on a rock!"
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Can Bharat step up?
KS Bharat has taken Rishabh Pant's place in this team. Rishabh Pant is walking again after multiple surgeries to his leg in the aftermath of a horrible car crash. Rishabh Pant is also the man who produced the Gabba miracle. India don't fold in Test cricket anymore. They aren't reliant on one batter anymore. Pant was actually India's highest scorer in the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy and he reprised those run-making skills against England at home on rank turners. He is a generational talent and replacing him is impossible but here is Bharat. He can't whack the ball like Pant. But he can stick around. He's got first-class pedigree. His batting average is 37 and he has a triple-century. This game is now on Rahane's shoulders, but he's going to need support. And a lot more than he got in the first innings.
Based on the eye test, Bharat gets closed off a lot. He presses on the front foot too early, even to shortish balls, he got hit on the helmet once in this innings making that mistake. That front foot also goes across too far, which is why when the ball nips in off the seam from outside off, he gets in a tangle. Australia have seen that tendency and have put in a short leg.
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Boland wrecks India
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Kohli gone for 49 (5 off 9 this morning). Jadeja gone for a second ball duck. And Australia had a plan for him too. Boland immediately went round the wicket. The first ball was a touch too far outside off and the left-hander enjoyed an easy leave. Boland corrected his line IMMEDIATELY. The length too is a touch fuller. A couple of inches of so. The tighter line, the fuller length draws Jadeja into a shot, a nothing shot, a push into the off side where there's fielders. It would've been no runs even if he had middled it. But here, the ball holds its line and takes the edge through to the keeper. This is classy bowling. How are they going to justify leaving him out for that first Ashes Test?
PS - Boland almost gets KS Bharat too. The wicketkeeper only just survives the last ball. A lifter from only slightly back of a good length. Maybe the death of the help from this pitch was greatly exaggerated.
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Kohli gone!
Boland strikes!
Smith takes a beauty at slip!
The Oval goes into a hush!
This is the wicket all of Australia went to sleep dreaming of. And it's been well worked actually.
Pat Cummins left cover wide open. In the last over, Kohli got a neat single there.
In this one, desperate to get Kohli out, Cummins burned a review for a caught behind because one man - Marnus Labuschagne - thought he heard a nick. The wicketkeeper didn't. The slips didn't. But Cummins couldn't risk missing the chance. Even if the percentages were off.
Next ball, after a diet of short of good length deliveries pinning him down, after spending much of the morning at the non-strikers, doing nothing - Kohli faced only nine of the first 39 balls - he gets a juicy full, wide one. He can't resist chasing it. And the thick edge flies to the right of second slip where Smith takes a ripper with both hands, diving away. For all of Cam Green's brilliance, Smith taking catches two handed is total awesomeness. It means he tracks the ball right the way through. It's not reflext. It's by design.
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Day five dynamics
12 runs in the first five overs at a rate of 2.4. India finished at a rate of 4.1 last evening.
Australia have begun with discipline. India too know the value of not losing early wickets, which is playing into their caution. Cummins and Boland have also been hitting the deck short of a length a lot. Is that because they want to scuff the ball up and get some reverse swing later?
Australia got ahead in this game on day one thanks to centuries from Travis Head and Steven Smith. Two individual efforts.
Here on day five, they need a collective effort. They need Cummins and Boland to keep targeting the top of off stump. They need Lyon to get turn and bounce. They need Starc to run and just go whang.
India stayed alive in this Test thanks to collective efforts. Rahane's and Thakur's partnership in the first batting innings. Siraj and Shami and Rohit being alive to the opportunity of the new ball in their second bowling innings.
Now, they need that individual sparkle. On day five, they need their big players to stand up. They need Virat Kohli to be King Kohli. They need Ajinkya Rahane to be, well, what he always is when they play away from home. A boss.
The team that got ahead with individual brilliance needs to stick together now against a team that has stuck together now needing individual brilliance.
Does that make sense? *thinking emoji*
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"Kohli! Kohli! Kohli!"
"Kohli! Kohli! Kohli! YEEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
This is the soundtrack from the Oval as India get their first runs of the morning.
The pitch is flat. The ball is soft. The sun is out. These are oustanding batting conditions. Curiously, as the game has gone on, the one thing that caused everybody problems - uncertain, uneven, scary bounce - has gone out. Even the tall Aussie fast bowlers aren't able to conjure that now. They're still running in hard. But the magic is gone.
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Aus on the back foot? Nah
Ponting just revealed on Channel Seven that he spoke to Steve Smith this morning. Ponting: "Australia believe they had a couple of really ordinary cricket balls yesterday. The one that they changed was a poor ball. They got a slightly harder one. It did something for a little while. As soon as the ball got soft, all the life went out of the track and it looked like the easiest batting conditions."
That break in play last evening came at a good time for Australia. A bowling team needs to slow a chase down but last evening things were happening too fast. Runs were coming too fast. Cummins, Boland, Lyon and Starc will have sat down and reassessed. They’ll know they still have plenty in the bank. And if they start the first hour with a wicket, or at least by controlling the run-rate, then the momentum starts to shift.
Momentum is a big thing for an underdog and India are the underdogs here. Momentum is a big thing for Kohli too. He feeds off it. He feeds off the crowd who sense history in the making. Every shot he played was met with a roar from the Indian contingent that outnumbers the Australian contingent 10 to 1 at The Oval. Good bowling can take away those intangibles and when those intangibles are taken away, it’s just mano a mano. Actually no, it’s mano a 11 mano. One Indian batter against 11 Australians on the ground. That’s the advantage Cummins has to bring into existence.
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Day five dawns
Spare three minutes and check out this soundtrack. It’s called Start A Band from Daniel Pemberton. Wait for the guitar riff in the end.
Virat Kohli and Pat Cummins are walking talking guitar riffs, right? They make people sit up. They somehow fill us from the inside out, and all of a sudden we’re transported to a whole ‘nother place. A place filled with hyper emotion. Hyper joy. Hyper thrill. Hyper glory. Even hyper heartbreak.
A great guitar riff of a day with great guitar riff like players awaits at the 2023 World Test Championship final.
India need 280. That’s a lot. Australia need seven wickets. That’s not a lot but it can be made to seem so.
Day five starting with all four results possible >>>>>>>>>
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India need 280 on the final day
You'd still be happier in the Australian camp, but this is by no means a done deal. India have batted positively and efficiently on a pitch that is flattening out. Virat Kohli has looked pristine in his unbeaten 44 off 60. Ajinkya Rahane has persevere despite blows on his fingers.
Australia, though, need seven good balls. There is no Rishabh Pant either. What will bother them is they have gone at over four an over despite dragging India back. And they still have 40 overs to go the second new ball. An exciting day in store tomorrow. See you then
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Fifty between Kohli and Rahane
There isn't much happening with the ball, and Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have looked comfortable during their unbeaten 57-run stand following the two quick wickets. Kohli has especially looked in total control. He has stayed back to shorter balls without missing a beat every time Australia have pitched it up. He is 39 off 50 as India reach 150 for 3.
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Pujara falls too
Pat Cummins is never too far from a wicket. The pitch has become less treacherous but there are still occasional unexpected things. Think Cheteshwar Pujara has chosen to ramp a bouncer that has not got up as much as expected. Also late into it. He manages to cue it to Alex Carey. Gone for 27 off 47.
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Lyon gets Rohit lbw
In his first over, Nathan Lyon traps Rohit Sharma in front. Rohit plays the sweep shot to good effect but here - from around the wicket - the ball has squeezed under his bat and not turned. Just straightening enough to be pitching leg and hitting off. India 92 for 2. A threatening partnership for Australia ends at 51.
The problem with that shot is that there is a short fine leg in place. You wonder if he even gets a run even if he middles this.
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India in control
14 Number of false responses India have offered in 114 balls of this innings. Australia's problem is not the lack of wickets but that they are not creating any indecision from India. They have reached 91 for 1 in 19 overs without being reckless. Just positive.
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Rohit, Pujara carry on
We can forget about the catch for now because India are mounting a challenge in this chase. Rohit Sharma has looked sublime in his 37 off 47, and Cheteshwar Pujara, too, has raced away to 17 off 20. The problem for Australia is that they have no control from the end other than Scott Boland's. Boland is 7-1-24-1, but India are 70 for 1 in 14 overs. Mitchell Starc is travelling as he occasionally can, but they will be expecting better from Pat Cummins, who has taken himself off after three overs for 18 runs.
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No soft signal, hard out
And we have our first contentious catch call in the post-soft-signal era. Firstly, amid all the mayhem that might even be called Bazball, Scott Boland has produced a beauty. It is on a length, outside off, kicks at Shubman Gill, leaves him, takes the edge even as Gill takes the bottom hand off.
There is a gap between second slip and gully where the ball is dying until Cameron Green gets left mitt out. He claims it and celebrates immediately. Gill is of course not walking. The decision is sent to the third umpire without any soft signal because it has been abolished.
I don't think Richard Kettleborough, the third umpire, has been given any conclusive evidence because we sort of lose a frame between Green catching with his fingers underneath the ball and then throwing the ball up in celebration. Does the ball in that frame - as he rolled his hand over - touch the grass? The other possibility is that you can have your fingers under the ball, and it can still touch the grass.
Kettleborough is satisfied it doesn't. Gill is shaking his head, Australia are celebrating, the crowd is booing along with cries of "cheat". And it is also tea, and Rohit Sharma, the unbeaten batter, is having to drag himself off. He is disappointed too.
In the end, though, the umpire hasn't seen the ball hit the grass. In his expert opinion it is out. We have to move on. And also mourn the abolition of the soft signal because this is where the expertise of the on-field umpires also helps make the decision.
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India make a quick start
India are looking more intentful at the start of the second innings. Also the ball has not moved either in the air or off the seam. India have raced away to 23 for 0 in four overs. No signs of uneven bounce either.
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No new ball for Starc
12 Number of time in 148 bowling innings that Mitchell Starc has not got the new ball. This could be a sign of things to come for the Ashes summer. Not only is Starc no as accurate as Scott Boland/Josh Hazlewood, but also the Duke's start to swing about 12 overs in. They did try to give him the new ball in the first innings, he went for runs, and was taken out two overs later. Now Boland takes the new ball.
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India need 444 to win
Australia have finally declared with the wicket of Pat Cummins. About 45 minutes of play left before tea for India to survive.
It is almost gully cricket scenes where the captain says, "I will bat, I don't care." As soon as he gets out, he calls the others in. Australia declare at 270 for 8.
In ten minutes, India's inquisition begins. Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green warm up.
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Declaration watch
Mitchell Starc has scored a quick 41 and finally fallen Mohammed Shami. In seven minutes it will be 24 hours since Australia bowled India out. They now lead by 433, but Pat Cummins has come out to bat still.
With a maximum of 141 overs left in the Test, you wonder how many more do Australia need to feel safe?
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Fifty for Carey
Batting has eventually become relatively easier as the ball is well past 60 overs of use. No wicket has fallen in the first half hour nor have India looked threatening apart from that one edge that flew between the staggered slips early on. Alex Carey has brought up a breezy fifty, the lead is 397, and it is not long before we start talking declaration.
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Unlucky Shami?
Every time Mohammed Shami goes past the bat, Nasser Hussain - if he is on air - says Shami beats the bat in England again. The implication there is that he looks beautiful nipping it around but perhaps doesn't bowl full enough in England.
Let's then look at some of the numbers. Firstly that Shami averages 42.2 in England. Let's look a little deeper. He has induced 711 false responses for 40 wickets in England, which is a wicket every 18 false responses. Overall, he takes a wicket every 11 false responses.
We don't have the data for the lengths Shami bowls vis-a-vis other bowlers, but he does threaten the stumps 21% of times in India as opposed to 13% outside. So there might be some substance to what is popularly believed. It is possible that the length that he hits the wickets with in India takes the ball above the stumps in places like England, which means the ball probably has enough time after pitching to miss the edge.
However, as part of a strong four-man attack - as he was on two previous trips - Shami didn't really need to risk being taken for runs. That attack never had to go searching.
What you can't hide away from is that Shami will want better stats in the seam-bowling heaven that England currently is. Even in this Test, Shami has drawn 58 mistakes - at a rate better than one every five balls - but has taken just two wickets.
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Welcome back
India begin the middle session with Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav. Already one edge has flown right between the two staggered slips. Sunil Gavaskar feels Virat Kohli at the second should gone for it to his right. Australia now lead by 383.
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Carey keeps lead ticking over
It's lunch on the fourth day, and despite all the good stuff from India, they are still staring at a big target. The last seven overs have brought 35 runs with Alex Carey looking good for his unbeaten 41. Australia now lead by 374. Another hour of batting, you suspect, and they will have to start thinking of timing their declaration.
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Jadeja gets Green
India keep pegging away at The Oval. Ravindra Jadeja has gone over the wicket to the right-hand batter Cameron Green too. Outside leg is the only rough so Jadeja says he will go there. Green manages to kick the ball away on three occasions, but the fourth one hits the rough, turns a little bit more, hits the glove, and rolls on to bowl him for 25 off 95. This is not the first time Jadeja has done this. This morning: 19 overs, 44 runs, two wickets. Australia lead by 340
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India excellent in the morning
One hour into the play, India have tested the Australia batters thoroughly, but they have got just one wicket. Still just 33 runs have come off the 14 overs bowled. The phrase that we have used often is: hanging in. India are hanging in.
Australia won't mind as long as they keep their fast bowlers rested for long enough. They will love to bat at least another couple of hours, which should take their lead past 400, and give their fast bowlers 24 hours of rest.
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Rahane still off the field
Ajinkya Rahane is still off the field after the blows he took on his fingers in the first innings. We are hearing the blow to the right index finger was pretty bad. He has not needed scans, which is good news. Shardul Thakur said yesterday at the press conference that Rahane is going to bat in the second innings.
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Why did Labuschagne stand out side the crease?
Despite getting hit repeatedly on the body, Marnus Labuschagne didn't budge from the stance outside the crease for the Indian quicks. It was interesting because he generally likes to bat back and play late like Steven Smith. Hear from the man himself.
"That's just a little bit of research with our analyst Dene Hills. We've just got some data on the lengths. So particularly the Indian bowlers bowl a shorter length that hits the top of the stumps. Where the likes of Pat Cummins might be bowling five and a half meters to hit the top of the stumps. The likes of Siraj, Shami and Umesh bowl almost six meters so they're almost half a metre shorter to hit the top of the stumps. So it's just trying to negate that top of the stumps length. Now if I come out let's say a foot or a foot and a half they're now having to bowl a foot and a half shorter and then the ball is going over the stumps, like you saw with those two lbws in the first innings. They nipped back, good shouts, if I'm in the crease that might be hitting the top of the stumps, but because I'm out of the crease the length is a bit shorter. So it negates that and it gives you a few more scoring options when they do miss full."
Shami still managed to hit the top of off in the first innings.
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Just the start India needed
In the third over of the day, Umesh Yadav has Marnus Labuschagne caught at slip. Just the perfect length outside off, holding its line slightly, and he edges through to first slip. It's the start India need because they can't afford to lose even one session here. Australia 124 for 5.
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Labuschagne is rested. Are you?
India have begun the day with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. Australia have Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green at the wicket. Here is some quotes from Labuschagne's interview with Channel Seven.
"I think just the wicket just going up and down always makes it for a very tough batting I think when the bounce is inconsistent, you sort of just have to commit and just grind away. It was tough to get some rhythm out there. We were close to breaking the back there with Steven and my partnership there and then we sort of let them back in a little bit but we're in a decent position so hopefully we can continue today."
"It's just one of those wickets where it's really tough to get rhythm and you just have to grind away. There might have been a few nice shots in there but it wasn't a fluid innings but that's a part of the game I've really tried to adapt as being able to just play what's in front of me. If it just means you have to grind or work hard, or it's a bit ugly then that's what you have to do on the day."
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Day 4. The moving day
India stubbornly hung in during all of day three, but they will find they will need to do all the same all over again if they have to give themselves a chance in this WTC final. Australia lead by 298 with six wickets still standing.
You can do worse than to start off the morning by reading from our correspondents at The Oval. Nagraj Gollapudi writes on the quiet hero that is Ajinkya Rahane. Osman Samiuddin recreates the morning from hell. Even though Australia are still in a strong position, Andrew McGlashan doesn't omit to mention that they were error-filled with the ball and in the field.
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Stumps: Aus lead by 296
Australia took a lead of 173 runs scoring 469 in the first innings. That's round about the extra runs India gave by not going short at Head, by not being full enough on the first morning, by their back up bowlers leaking too many. If they'd tighten up a bit, Australia being 123 for 4 at stumps on the third day wouldn't have them leading by 296. This Test feels a little like Cape Town 2018 when India started well and then let AB de Villiers run amok.
India learned from their poor first innings bowling effortin the second innings. They were quick to go short against Head, and also match him up with Jadeja, who had him in trouble even on a day one pitch. Their fast bowlers, especially when the ball was hard and new, were very threatening. They produced 22 false responses including two wickets in the first 14.1 overs. Then Smith and Labuschagne got together and took back the lost momentum.
Among India's batters, Ajinkya Rahane in his comeback Test was excellent, scoring 89. Shardul Thakur took several blows to his body but he never gave up. He got his third fifty at The Oval.
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Postcard from Hell
I know you're all riveted by this Test match but please drag your eyes away from it and savour this absolute epic from Osman Samiuddin featuring lines such as
Hell is morning.
First thing in the morning, Scott Boland. I mean. That's like waking up straight into a math exam.
The greatest trick hell ever pulled is, of course, Pat Cummins, who's up next.
Boland bowls his first ever bad delivery in Tests, four wides way down legside. India celebrate the runs. Humanity celebrates a glitch in the ChatGPT algorithm: there's hope for all of us.
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India vs Head
India look to be targeting Head with Jadeja too, which is a pretty decent option. Head was playing for turn on the first day and Jadeja was getting balls past the leading edge.
Now on a day three pitch with more than 200 overs of wear and tear, he will actually be able to get purchase. And on cue, the fourth ball of the 225th over of this game TURNS BIG. Head leaves the ball seeing it pitch about three feet outside off stump and is relieved to see that he hasn't been bowled.
And it works! Head has only 1 off 13 balls against Jadeja. The left-arm spinner his been tossing a few up outside off and into the rough to dare him into a big shot, but nothing works. Even the one that gives him six runs is a dropped catch from Umesh Yadav.
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Jadeja isn't fazed. He keeps looping it up. He keeps teasing Head. Head goes for the hard-handed lash and the slowness with which this ball was bowled - Jadeja never bowls slow so that shows this is planned - the sheer deliciousness of it going up above his eyeline has him playing too early, playing without being careful of the turn that happens off that rough and his four through cover becomes a caught and bowled. Head's habit of playing with a hard bottom hand, which closes the bat face even when playing off side shots, leads to his downfall
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Smith gone!
He was full of intent today and as much as that did turn the tide of this innings in favour of Australia, it becomes his downfall.
He looks to take Jadeja on, to hit him out of the attack. He charges out of his crease, maybe a millisecond too early. That gives Jadeja the warning he needs to pull his length back, and his line wider, and the little bit of turn he gets is enough to snag the edge for catch at cover point.
In comes Travis Head and this time India are awake to his short-ball weakness. They immediately bring in their fastest bowler, Siraj and a short leg. India should be thinking leg gully too.
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Smith+Labuschagne
Australia were 24 for 2 in the first 14.1 overs. Run rate 1.71. In the next 13.5 overs, with Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne together, Australia score 59 runs at a rate of 4.3 rpo.
I asked ESPNcricnfo's Alex Malcolm, who makes a living watching Smith bat, why he has brough out his old trigger movement, going across his stumps. And he says:
"Buys him more time I think. I don't know for a fact. But in Australia last year he went more side on and stayed stiller to gain more access in front of the wicket, particularly driving between cover and mid-off and straight of mid-on which are big keys in Australia. When he shuffled, he was getting to too front on and could only score in limited areas square.
"But I believe in England because the ball moves late he likes to play late and go squarer with the movement. You're more vulnerable trying to drive straighter as Green showed in the first innings. So he likes to get back and across to buy time. He's big on turning a good length top of off stump ball into a single behind square. Very few players do it as well as him. Then if the ball darts away late he can leave or withdraw the bat inside the line."
Smith confirmed in the press conference last night that he's gone back and across specifically because thats a way he thinks he can play well here in England. (from 0.48s onwards)
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Smith counterattacks
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Steven Smith has hit two fours in his first eight balls. One to put India off from bowling short at him, a pull shot well in front of square, utterly deflating a fast bowler. Another equally awesome strike, this time too getting up on his toes but accessing the covers with a straight bat.
Smith usually takes his time to get going, but the abiding thread that connects even this little innings with all his other big ones is that he always dictates the terms. Even when he is leaving bowlers all day long, he is in control, he is luring them into bowling at his strength, into the pads.
That pull shot especially was a way to throw India's plans off from targeting him with a straight line of attack. But India should persevere with that line especially because balls are keeping low now.
Australia have crossed 50 now, their lead is 224.
3 balls, out of 38, that Smith and Labuschagne have not been in control of since they came together at the crease. Before this partnership, India produced 22 false responses in 14.1 overs.
Goes to show, once the ball get older and softer, it's easier to bat, because the movement - both sideways and up and down - isn't as sharp. The batter has more time to adjust.
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India finally get the back up
In the fourth over after tea, Umesh Yadav has Usman Khawaja caught behind.
Umesh began the second innings with a maiden. He knew he had let his team down in the first innings when he gave away easy boundaries in his first spell. Here he's done much better. He's bowled dry. Outside off. He's asked the batters to come and chase him if they want runs. Khawaja tries and nicks off to the keeper. It was definitely a ball he could have let go.
Australia 24 for 2, but effectively 200 for 2.
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Steyn on wobble seam
Since we're going to see a lot of it over the English summer, here's one of the best bowlers of all time explaining what the wobble seam ball is all about. He calls it the three-quarter seam ball. NZ call it that too.
Essentially, it's a way for fast bowlers who may not swing the ball as much to still threaten the batter with movement. Typically it comes into the right-hander. Siraj who doesn't have a traditional inswinger developed it to become a more rounded bowler and its part of why he is so good against left-handers.
The seam wobbles on the way down to the pitch. Then it hits the pitch and it comes up upright, it moves. If it doesn't come up upright, it skids through straight. That uncertainty can be deadly
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Thakur steps up again
Thakur bowling with better rhythm too. India go to him as their change bowler, perhaps to draw from his confidence after scoring a really good, fighting fifty.
Labuschagne tries to throw his lengths off by batting a whole yard outside his crease, but India counter that by bringing the keeper up.
The new ball gives India their best chance of coming back in this game and they are trying really hard. They need another wicket. They'll want Smith in while the ball is hard and behaving randomly like this.
Australia go to tea leading by 196 runs but they've been shook a bit, literally in Labuschagne's case who had his feet up and was trying to get some Zzzz's when the first wicket feel and he realised he had to come out and bat.
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Rohit doing his bit
Rohit, learning from his mistakes too. His former coach Ravi Shastri in the first innings pointed out that he went too far bowling Siraj and Shami for six-over opening spells on the first morning.
So here he takes Shami off after four overs, but keeps Siraj on, because Siraj has been far more threatening, getting sideways movement with his wobble seam and extra bounce as well.
He's also got leg gully for Labuschagne and Siraj is bringing him into play by bowling straight and tempting the flick shot. First ball of 10th over, the plan almost worked.
In the same over, with Labuschagne standing a yard out of his crease, Siraj whacks his top hand with a ball that bounces extra. The batter drops his equipment and jumps around in pain, wringing his hand. This is hostile quick bowling from a hostile Indian quick. Even takes the chance to stare the batter down. Siraj is totally switched on here.
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India trying hard
13 false responses from Austraia's batters in the first seven overs. That's more false responses than they have runs (12) right now
India understand they need to take A LOT of wickets when the ball is brand new.
So Siraj is going wobble seam a lot and Khawaja is not having any fun with that ball zipping past him, making him get all squared up.
Shami at the other end is using the crease a lot more, going wider and angling the ball into Labuschagne and seeing if he can straighten it and snag the edge
In between all this, they have a catcher for the short ball at square leg. They're going for all modes of dismissal, which they used to do very well before that awful first innings in this game
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Opening woes
4 runs. Never before has an Australian opening partnership been so... what's the opposite of prolific? in a Test match
And they have the Ashes coming up. Will Warner keep his place? Probably. He'll start that series and if he doesn't make a bit one in the first two Tests, then someone might be tapping him on the shoulder and saying thanks mate.
Meanwhile, Labuschagne survives a run out. Another back of a length ball rears at him and he sets off for a single having fended it to the right of gully. He is watching the ball and he realises he hasn't placed it far enough from Gill. As soon as he saw the fielder in control of the ball, he decided to turn around and at that point, both he and Khawaja were at the same end. If anyone had taken that picture, that's what panic looks like. Australia are nearly 200 runs ahead and they're panicking.
Gill knows he needs to get rid of the ball, but he aims for the wrong end. Bowler's end and Labuschagne was gone.
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Siraj KOs Warner
25 Mohammed Siraj's average against left-hand batters. That's 22 wickets for 546 runs in 979 balls. His average against right-handers is up at 34
THE OVAL IS SCREEEAAAMING!
Virat Kohli has them on a string. He waves his hands. They up the volume.
This doesn't look like a game where India is 170-odd runs behind.
Siraj is steaming in. His wobble seam takes Warner out. Marnus Labuschagne had his feet up and his eyes closed in the dressing room. The Oval's roar woke him up and he finds he has to rush to the middle. Once there, he's whacked on the hand with a lifter from Siraj. The same thing happened in the first innings as well.
India look more threatening now. They're even using the short ball, but not to take wickets, just to keep it in the back of the batter's mind. They have a square leg catching for the fend/mis-hit pull. That field reminds the batter that the short stuff is coming, it keeps them on the back foot, which is the whole point because India want to catch them on the move and have them nicking off with the fuller ones.
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Quiet start
India began this Test with two maidens. This time - with much less movement on offer - they've still kept it tight
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In the second over, Mohammed Siraj really did have Usman Khawaja in trouble. The angle from over the wicket, with balls pitching outside leg on a good length square the left-hander up big time. He was lucky not to nick off to the keeper again.
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Mohammed Shami meanwhile is targeting Khawaja with a straight line of attack from around the wicket. He has a short backward square leg and square leg catching.
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India 296 all out
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All of Australia's top four - Khawaja, who had even crossed the boundary line, Warner, Labuschagne and Smith - had already raced back to the dressing room, thinking they'd bowled India out.
And though Green did take the ninth wicket, Thakur out for 51, the next one, an lbw given on field the next ball, gets overturned as Siraj uses DRS and it comes back that he'd nicked the ball before it hit the pad
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They have to wait six more balls before getting what they want. India bowled out for 296. That's a lead of 173 in the WTC final. They've opted for the heavy roller. That - and the sunshine - should quiet the pitch for a bit, which may help them deal with the new ball a liiiittle better.
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Thakur fifty
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Boland had gone for just 48 runs in 19 overs (2.5 runs per over) before his path crossed with Mohammed Shami. Suddenly he leaks 11 runs in one over. It is his most expensive over in Test cricket.
This is probably the best way India's tail can bat. Get quick runs.
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In the next over, Thakur, who got hit on the arm twice in two balls from Cummins, nails an on-drive that Ricky Ponting on air calls "shot of the day". Thakur has his fifty. He made India's fastest in Test cricket the last time he was at The Oval. This one is a bit more sedate but valuable nonetheless. Falls for 51 in the next over though.
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Green goes 3D
Andrew McGlashan, who saw it live at The Oval, reports on the Green catch
All things being equal, Cameron Green is going to go down as one of the great gully fielders. Which makes it all the more remarkable that he missed the much simpler chance that came his way today – maybe it was too easy. His reach means he can cover the ground of almost two fielders; few would have been able to get to that flying edge of Ajinkya Rahane particularly with the catchers stationed reasonably close.
The way the Australians celebrated with him was obviously because of the breathtaking nature of the catch and it’s importance with Rahane having played a gem of an innings, but more broadly they are also aware of the value Green brings in the field. There was a moment during the last Australian summer, against West Indies in Adelaide, where Green produced a superb diving save at gully which kept Jermaine Blackwood on strike. Next ball, Blackwood edged Scott Boland again and Green held a stunning catch. Green was having a few struggles with the bat at the time and it was clear how much his team-mates wanted to use the moment to lift his confidence. He really is a three-dimensional cricketer.
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Rahane gone!
All innings, he's been playing these shots. Watching the Aussies target him in the corridor outside off, waiting until the ball is right under his eyes, and then opening the face to access the gaps square of the wicket.
Here too, in the first over after lunch, he's got plenty of contact on the ball from Pat Cummins. It absolutely flies to the right of gully. It probably would've beaten every single fielder out there but the man who is actually out there. Cameron Green. He's like 10 feet tall. And he sticks out a big right hand and it sticks. The ball has passed him. It's behind him. Rahane has hit it soo sooo well. But Green just throws a hand out, behind him, and it sticks.
This is almost Ben Stokes at Nottingham. At the time of all of this happening, Kumar Sangakkara on air suspected Australia's slip cordon is standing a bit closer than usual because they want to stay in the game, be in catching positions, even when a ball keeps low. That makes this even harder because Green has no reaction time and this ball was flying over head-height. Most peple would've been happy to have saved four there, except Green makes it a wicket.
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Cummins and no-balls
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Australia go to lunch with their captain kicking the ball away in disgust. He'd just had Thakur was given out lbw on field. Thakur went for DRS because he has to. India don't have a lot of batting left after him. DRS will have upheld umpire's call. But as soon as it went upstairs, Richard Kettleborough called for the front foot and we now know why. It had strayed. The Oval is in party mood. They sense a shift in this game.
3 times that a no-ball has cost Pat Cummins a wicket in this match. Rahane on 17, now Thakur, and earlier when they aborted an lbw appeal against Jadeja when the ump signalled it was no-ball
India have scored 109 runs in the first session of the third day, for the loss of only one wicket. Thakur was very brave. He was peppered at the start of the innings. Now, with not one but two arm guards for protection, he's actually taking the attack to Australia. He's walloped half-volleys and short balls from Starc. He's gained a measure of revenge against Cummins, the man who kept hitting his arm. And now he's giving outstanding company to Rahane who is 11 runs off a century on his Test comeback.
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Rahane's cover drive
It's been a pretty productive shot for him in this Test. It's the shot bowlers want batters to play in all Tests. But Rahane has foxed them in a couple of ways. One - the fact he's only attempted the shot 12 times in 122 balls. He's not going searching for the shot, he's been selective with it, looking for balls in the half-volley length. Once he gets it, he trusts his timing. He doesn't go hard. He trusts his timing, and this lightning-fast outfield to fetch him his runs. This is lovely clear-headed batting to haul his side out of trouble. He's 89 at lunch. India are 260 for 6.
108 off 130 balls - the partnership between Rahane and Thakur. It is the 8th century partnership for India in Tests for the 7th wicket and lower since 2021. Next best is 4 by Bangladesh.
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Starc's threat
Mitchell Starc. Is he having a good game? He certainly did produce the ball that most people are talking about from this game. That snorter to dismiss Virat Kohli. But he also seems to be the bowler who is troubling India the least.
59 balls that India have been in full control of against Starc out of a total of 78. That's 75% but it only tells one part of the story. The other part, the more important part, is they've got 59 runs off those 59 balls at a strike rate of 100
This means India are getting runs off Starc a lot easier than the other bowlers. Case in point, India have been in full control of 79 of 96 balls from Scott Boland but that's only given them 44 runs.
It adds to the picture that Starc doesn't create as much pressure because, as is the nature of the express quick, he sometimes goes full to take out the stumps and errs half-volley or he goes short and gets smacked square of the wicket. In his search for wickets, he loses control and he lets oppositions off the hook
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Like in this over, one of those dots cut Shardul Thakur in half, seaming in from around the wicket, from way outside off stump. But the over ended with Thakur smashing Starc through point for four
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India fight back
41 fifty-plus stands from the last six wickets for India since 2021 (15* 100s, 26 50s). In that same time, they've had only 42 fifty-plus stands (12 100s, 30 50s) for the first four wickets. #LowerOrderMuscle
The slightest sign of aggression - mis-hits to point, thick edges over the slips - are being greeted by deafening roars at the ground. A sizeable Indian contingent is out there. And they still have the faith that this game can be turned around. The two men in the middle, Rahane and Thakur, believe this can be turned around. This is brave batting.
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Australia are now giving the easy single to Rahane, spreading the field out. They're targeting Thakur now.
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Rahane fifty
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He is here as a stop-gap measure. But he seems to be the only one making any headway for India. Ajinkya Rahane has a half-century in his first Test since January 2022.
This innings, in many ways, is what Rahane does every time in Test cricket. He starts nervously. He looks for boundaries to help himself settle. He has a tendency to push at balls outside off stump. Some of those end up as boundaries at third man. He is excellent off the back foot. That six in that sequence above took him to fifty and it was an outstanding swivel pull over long leg.
These are all the traits everyone knows about Rahane. He's done nothing different. Just reiterated that he still has something to give this team. Especially when they travel away from home.
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Cummins the danger
There's going to be a scene in the next Mission Impossible movie where Tom Cruise rides a bike straight over a cliff in Norway. It's one of the wildest stunts ever attempted. Cruise, apparently, did the jump hundreds of times to train for that one maybe 2 minute bit in a 3 hour movie. Dude's brave. Except would even he be willing to subject himself to a full over of peak Pat Cummins?
Australia's captain is a stallion. It feels wrong that dust doesn't fly off the ends of his boots when he is running into bowl. It feels wrong when he bangs that ball into the pitch the earth doesn't just split open. Shardul Thakur has been hit on the right forearm twice because on top of all the assets that Cummins possess, he also makes the ball move at high pace. The angle that he bowls with - from wider of the crease - and his bowling action, where he almost sways to the left when he delivers the ball makes batters think they should play leg side.
And that's when they're caught off guard, because Cummins is so good at getting the ball to straighten. Off stumps all over the world have nightmares thinking about this man.
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Boland strikes on day 3
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This is the first over of the morning.
It's from Scott Boland, arguably the toughest man to face on this pitch because he hits that fuller than good length, but shorter than drivable length over and over and over.
Any seam movement from there is often deadly and so it proves to be for Bharat who is bowled.
Are Australia really going to leave him out when Hazlewood is fit for the Ashes? Boland spoke to Channel 7 before the day's play and those quotes ring truer now with this wicket.
On how he became such an accurate line and length bowler
When I was a bit younger playing the MCG it was really flat. And you got exposed if you weren't hitting the stumps all the time. So my game plan is just to try and put the ball in as tighter cluster as I can and then trying to keep my ball speed up as well. Mostly my game plan is just as many balls in that [good area] as I can. And with the wobble seam and this Dukes ball, you can get it to go either way from that length and challenge the batter's defence and try and get an outside edge or inside edge.
When I was a bit younger playing the MCG it was really flat. And you got exposed if you weren't hitting the stumps all the time. So my game plan is just to try and put the ball in as tighter cluster as I can and then trying to keep my ball speed up as well. Mostly my game plan is just as many balls in that [good area] as I can. And with the wobble seam and this Dukes ball, you can get it to go either way from that length and challenge the batter's defence and try and get an outside edge or inside edge.
On the inconsistent bounce at The Oval and how they plan to exploit it
Even in our first innings Marnus got hit on the fingers pretty early on and then for us it felt like the bigger wobble seam deliveries were taking off a little bit, especially late in the afternoon yesterday. So hopefully that'll play into our advantage as the game goes on.
Even in our first innings Marnus got hit on the fingers pretty early on and then for us it felt like the bigger wobble seam deliveries were taking off a little bit, especially late in the afternoon yesterday. So hopefully that'll play into our advantage as the game goes on.
His preparation in the off-season leading into the match
I was really lucky to have some centre wickets at the Junction Oval. Obviously in Melbourne we're not really blessed with weather, but we've been really lucky and the curator did a great job to get those up there. And then we came over here and we had four or five really good bowls on centre wickets here as well so you can't really get much better prep without playing games.
I was really lucky to have some centre wickets at the Junction Oval. Obviously in Melbourne we're not really blessed with weather, but we've been really lucky and the curator did a great job to get those up there. And then we came over here and we had four or five really good bowls on centre wickets here as well so you can't really get much better prep without playing games.
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Aus: Nowhere to hide
They're tall. They're accurate. They hit the pitch harder. From a higher release point. And in conditions where seam movement and bounce cause the most problems, there can't be many better bowling attacks than Australia's. Now throw in Cameron Green and Nathan Lyon, who have done what India could not - back up their frontline quicks and keep the pressure on. You have nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
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The Kohli wicket
A lot has been made of Virat Kohli coming into the front foot to a ball that reared up at him.
But do you remember back in October when he came on the front foot to a short ball against Haris Rauf at the MCG and smacked it for six down the ground?
Sanjay Manjrekar was among the first to spot that Kohli doesn't really have a cut shot; his back foot game revolves around punches through cover, flicks through square leg and pulls through midwicket. He is very good in this video analysing the former India captain's dismissal.
We ask too much of our cricketers sometimes. It is with this technique that Kohli has provided some of India's greatest wins. I think that ball from Mitchell Starc was a brute and it would've gone past 99% of batters. Kohli is part of the 1% who is good enough to touch it, which in this case was very much to his detriment. Ricky Ponding on commentary made an excellent point when it happened. He said if that ball had taken any part of the bat - even the edge - it would've flown over the slips for four. But the unexpectedly steeeeeep bounce made it take the glove and balloon to the slips at catching height.
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Welcome to day 3
Nagraj Gollapudi reports from The Oval: Can India survive at least the first session on this crucial morning? Will the Test end in four days? Two critical questions that have been gathering momentum since stumps on Thursday evening. The Indian fans stop, disheartened no doubt, to ask: “What do you think are the chances?”
Probably India, too, don’t know that yet. There have been weather warnings about sweltering temperatures for this the weekend, starting today. So batters would ideally want to take advantage. KS Bharat turned up to have a decent net this morning. He had taken a few blows to survive the final 10 minutes of play on day 2. Can he along with Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur blunt the relentless examination from the collective Australian bowling group?
The mood might be downbeat but the Indian fans seem like they want to have a good time: a couple arrived in bright-coloured ghagra cholis, many are draped themselves in the Indian tri-colour. Expect a celebratory and festive atmosphere however long the Test lasts.
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India end the day five down
Twelve wickets in the day. India would have been happy with the first seven but the damage was done yesterday. As it became apparent, 469 was well above par on this surface. Australia's taller bowlers bowled quicker and from a higher release point to draw more threatening mischief out of the pitch. Interestingly, it took them just 36 false responses to take the five Indian wickets. India got nine with 160. It probably comes down to the higher intent shown by Australia batters, and also perhaps India bowled slightly shorter than Australia.
Overall, though, as expected, Australia had a better and deeper attack for these conditions and the Duke's ball, which became apparent. They still have 318 runs in the bank, and will probably look to bat again despite whatever lead they do get. Ajinkya Rahane on 29 stands between them and the tail. We will take it from here tomorrow.
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Jadeja falls two short of fifty
Well, if the pace attack doesn't get you, Nathan Lyon will. This pitch has something in it for the spinners, which will keep increasing. This is a length ball, drifting in towards off, and Jadeja is drawn into a defensive shot. The ball turns away, and he follows it with his hands. Caught at slip. A 71-run stand ends. Just the lift Australia needed some 20 minutes before stumps.
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First sighting of Lyon
A minor victory for India as they have forced Australia to go to a spinner in this long final session. The ball is still doing plenty sideways and up and down too. The fast bowlers have bowled 32 overs, India are 125 for 4, and there is a half hour to stumps.
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A six off Boland
1 Number of sixes hit off the bowling of Scott Boland in his entire Test career. And it has come off the bat of Ravindra Jadeja. India 112 for 4 with Jadeja 31 off 37.
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The no-ball situation
Pat Cummins bowls an absolute seed to trap Ajinkya Rahane right in front, but he reviews it after discussion with Ravindra Jadeja. Now starts the interesting bit, which I have always been sceptical about. Even after that discussion break, it takes about a further half a minute to check the no-ball because the angle is not great because of the extra cover's placement.
After three replays, it is ru8led correctly as a no-ball, but it raises an important question: is it possible this never happens with other non-wicket balls in a day's play? Does every ball get this thorough scrutiny in the small gap between deliveries when there is no dismissal or a review?
Anyway Rahane has survived this absolute beauty that seams away to beat his outside edge but still trap him in front. It is Cummins' fourth no-ball today. India 88 for 4.
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Starc gets Kohli
We have been saying here that India didn't really expose the true nature of the pitch. Australia are hitting the pitch harder, and the uneven bounce has been more pronounced. Now Mitchell Starc gets one to kick at Virat Kohli out of nowhere, and India are 71 for 4. All four have a wicket each. There is little respite from this attack.
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Ball change
At 17.2 overs, the umpires have realised the ball is out of shape. It fails the hoops test. Australia get a replacement, and Ajinkya Rahane hooks the first one he faces for four. The next one nips back to cut him in half.
Rahane the Test batter has always been aggressive to start with. A nervous starter might even say. He looks to get in with two-three early boundaries before settling into his work. He is 12 off 14 here. India 71 for 3.
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Pujara bowled leaving alone
Only for the third time in his Test career has Cheteshwar Pujara been bowled leaving a ball alone. He has picked an outswinger from Cameron Green, it has pitched outside off, and he thinks this one won't bother him. The ball, though, seams back in appreciably, and he is bowled.
All that seam movement is fine, but Pujara will be upset with himself that he didn't cover the line of the stumps before leaving it alone. It is not a good leave. India 50 for 3.
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Welcome back
Australia begin the final session with Scott Boland and Cameron Green. It is an interesting choice to go with Green, but it seems like they are setting themselves up for the long session. India have taken 12 runs off the first two overs with Cheteshwar Pujara hitting a boundary each off Boland and Green.
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India 37 for 2 at tea
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli make through the storm before tea, but a long testing session awaits India. The interesting thing here is that India have offered false responses to just nine balls in 10 overs and have lost two wickets. India extracted much more with the new ball: 21 in the first 12 overs. To the naked eye, it seems Australia have bowled fuller lengths than India since Starc has been taken off. What's more, they have been fuller without offering the batters drives. A gripping session coming up soon.
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Boland 1.4-1-0-1
This man is a relentless bowling machine. Scott Boland will keep going for the top of off ball after ball, looking for seam movement. Shubman Gill thinks he can leave one alone outside off, but he doesn't stride enough to cover possible movement. Boland sneaks it back in off the seam, and India are 30 for 2 now.
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Pat Cummins. At you all the time
You can make a quick start, you can pull him, drive him, but he Pat Cummins keeps coming back with a good ball after good ball. And he is no swing bowler. He gets seam movement at high pace, giving you little time to adjust. Rohit Sharma has been done in after a promising start. Beaten on the inside edge, he doesn't even review the lbw call. India 30 for 1 after six overs.
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Starc taken out after two overs
India make a positive start with 23 runs in four overs prompting a change from Mitchell Starc to Scott Boland. Rohit Sharma has taken on the short ball, and also not been shy of the drive. Shubman Gill played a glorious drive the first ball he faced from Pat Cummins. Australia looking for control now.
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Carey pushes Australia past 450
7 Number of runs Pat Cummins has scored in a 51-run stand for the eighth wicket with Alex Carey, who has just fallen lbw to Ravindra Jadeja for 48 off 69. Australia now 453 for 8 with 31 runs in six overs since lunch
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Welcome back to the middle session
India have started the session with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. The signs of variable bounce remain. Perhaps even more pronounced. The ball is seaming and swinging too. India can't afford to concede much more. Australia 430 for 7 after two overs into the session.
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Australia 422 for 7 at lunch
India have fought back on the second morning with four wickets, but Australia will not mind the 95 runs they have added in just the 23 overs this session.
India began the session with a short-ball plan for Travis Head, but they also leaked runs to Steven Smith. A short ball finally got Head for 163, Mohammed Shami bowled a beauty to get Cameron Green, Smith played Shardul Thakur on, and Mitchell Starc ran himself out.
India still need better control from their bowlers. They will not want to be chasing much more than 450 here.
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Australia get to 400
India now are able to bowl line and length to Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc. The partnership between them is 14 runs in five overs.
Mohammed Siraj then keeps going past Starc's edge, which eventually results in his running for a non-existent single to the left of substitute fielder Axar Patel at mid-off. He is run out. Australia now 402 for 7.
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Thakur gets Smith out
What do you say about Shardul Thakur really? He starts off his day with a gentle outswinger on a length, just outside off, and has Steve Smith bowled. The good-old play-on. Someday Shiva will find out numbers of played-ons, and Thakur will be there. Smith b Thakur 121 (168b, 19 fours). Australia 387 for 6.
It is probably lack of pace on the loosener that has done Smith in.
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Shami gets Green
In his fifth over of the morning, Mohammed shami goes wide on the crease, gets Cameron green to play the angle, and still gets the ball to nip away against the angle and take the edge for a superb catch from Shubman Gill at second slip. It's 2 for 49 in the first 10 overs, which is more like what tends to happen when the batters are playing with high intent.
Now, though, is the game. Can the next two bowlers back them up? Australia 376 for 5.
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Head not in control
I know I have been banging on about it, but Shiva Jayaraman has worked deeper on Travis Head's false responses. His control percentage of 69 is the lowest for any century in Test cricket since 2013. The ones next to this innings are similar innings: Brendon McCullum with the fastest Test century in his last Test, Misbah-ul-Haq's six-filled madness against Australia in 2014 and Jonny Bairstow Bazballing India last year. It is a special skill to counterattack so we are not taking anything away from this innings. Just that you have to live with failures too, which Head's side is happy to do.
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Finally a wicket for India
India last took a wicket just after lunch on day one. Nearly 300 runs later, they finally find a way past Travis Head, whose luck runs out not before scoring 163 runs.
India continue bowling short with three catchers in the deep and one in the infield. Head continues trying to shuffle across to look to use the paced of the bowler. This time, though, he gloves it through to KS Bharat. Head c Bharat b Siraj 163.
This was the 54th false response Head offered to a ball in this innings. Great intent and execution, but not an insignificant amount of luck there.
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The short ball to Head
Unsurprisingly, India have started going upstairs to Travis Head early in the day. Head is not the most comfortable against it, but he is finding a way so far. He fended one in the air, and then started to stand well outside leg, shuffle across, get inside the line, and hook/pull everything. He has nailed two of those pulls even as there are some deliveries that are troubling him. He is 163 off 173, and Australia have added 34 runs in six overs this morning.
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Head gets to 150
Fittingly with a late-cut, Travis Head gets the boundary that takes him past 150 for the fourth time in his career. And he has scored only six centuries. He goes long once he reaches three figures. India still leaking runs: 18 of them in the first four overs of the morning. Australia 345 for 3.
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Missing the stumps
43 Number of balls, out of 478, from Indian seamers hitting the wicket. at their best, India's attack used to attack the wicket more often than the opposition. At 9%, the number is quite low.
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No. 31 for Smith
The worst possible start from Mohammed Siraj. two successive half-volleys to Steven Smith, and he takes boundaries off both to reach his 31st Test hundred. It is his seventh in England, and after celebrating he stops Siraj in his tracks as the spider cam distracts him.
Only Don Bradman has more hundreds as a visiting batter in England.
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A note on luck
Steven Smith just acknowledged the role Travis Head's intent played in the pressure going off him. He said the bowlers perhaps bowled too short to him too because of Head. However, Head needed a bit of luck. He made 47 false responses in 156 balls, Smith only 22 in 227 balls. This is the most false responses for Head in a Test innings.
Then again that is the role Head plays, and Australia had all the conviction that that was the way to bat for him. Which means they are okay if he does fall early trying to take the game on. Now they are both looking at milestones: Head is 4 short of 150, Smith 5 short of a hundred.
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They didn't test my front-foot defence enough: Warner
Interesting thoughts from David Warner not just on the play yesterday but his own career too. He spoke to the broadcasters before the start of day two.
On India's bowling
Only thing I felt as batsman I wasn’t challenged enough on my front foot defence so it was okay to leave on length then try to put some pressure on.
On his own form
I’ve had a great preparation leading into this , there’s been a lot of hype around myself, which there always has been in the last decade but that comes with the game… Yesterday probably was the best I’ve felt in the last 24 months.
On his retirement announcement
Just feel that sometimes you need to put more emphasis on the team and just feel like every time an article was written it’s all about me, and it’s not about me, me getting dropped or me retiring, just felt I had to put it out there. Then everyone can be quiet and just concentrate on this game and the series leading into it.
On the pitch
It was a little bit dry, I marked a few scuffs yesterday around the crease line and it was quite dry. We saw a bit variable bounce as well, specifically bowling from the changing room end. Hopefully we can bat deep today, look past 500 and maybe bowl this afternoon after tea.
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Welcome to day two
There is not much new to be said about India's selection debate that dominated all the talk. Let's move on to day two. Travis Head and Steven Smith will look to carry on from where they left off. India will look for improvements. The new ball is still new, and Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will start looking for early wickets. Another point of interest is if the pitch will quicken up. And if the variable bounce will get worse or if it was because of the early moisture.
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Stumps: Aus 327 for 3
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.
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India take the new ball
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But its not working for them. Even their gun bowlers, Shami and SIraj, are going for boundaries now.
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India tiring
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.
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Australia merciless
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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.
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Advance Australia
4.8 runs per over. Australia's scoring rate since tea. That's 77 runs in 16 overs with nine fours and a six
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Head=Gilchrist?
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.
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Smith fifty
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.
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India go short at Head
Mohammed Siraj is going full-on bouncer barrage. Two on the hook on the leg side. Two on the cut on the off side.
He's sat Head down on his backside with one that was coming up to his right ear.
He's hit Head on the helmet with the batter looking to pull the ball.
India have a slightly newer ball when Head came to the crease, so they might have preferred to keep the ball up there and continue looking for swing.
Now that its got older, they're happy to dig it into the middle of the pitch.
Still, they could've gambled for an over or two. Head is nearing a century. This change of tactic feels late
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Head's up Part II
Travis Head is eying a huuuuuge landmark. A first Test century away from home. To do that in this game, in a final, will feel especially good.
This year began with the selectors basically telling him he isn't good enough to play spin. He had come into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as their leading run-getter from the home Test season. It didn't matter. His numbers in the subcontinent weren't great and he wasn't even given the chance to improve on them.
Then they lost that first Test in Nagpur and Head's non-selection became a sore subject. From that low to this high, it has to feel special. No player likes getting dropped. And no matter how hard they try, it will feel personal. Head's taken that hurt in his stride and he's turned it into something productive.
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Have India been unlucky?
21 for Head
18 for Warner
14 for Smith
15 for Labuschagne
2 for Khawaja
18 for Warner
14 for Smith
15 for Labuschagne
2 for Khawaja
These are the false shots played by each Australian batter today at the end of 56 overs, according to ESPNcricinfo ball-by-ball data.
That's a total of 70 balls that have caused problems, but only three of them have produced a wicket.
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A tale of two Oval games
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.
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Jadeja's impact
Jadeja has already induced a few false shots from Head.
From around the wicket, he beat his outside edge with one that just went on with the angle instead of turning.
He almost dismissed him off the leading edge.
And now, just before tea, moving over the wicket, he tosses the ball up and gets turn out of some footmarks outside the left-hander's off stump. Beats his inside edge and nearly bowls him.
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Head fifty
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.
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India's change bowlers
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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)
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Smith-watching
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.
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Travball
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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
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Smith vs fast bowling
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.
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Head's up
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.
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Shami KOs Labuschagne
It's the full ball.
It's the drive ball.
It's the only thing that exists in England if you're a fast bowler.
You cannot go away from that length. No matter what.
Ricky Ponting screamed himself hoarse (not really) about making sure bowlers go full at batters when there is help on offer; about being courageous enough to risk being driven down the ground for four.
Shami wasn't in the first session. He was a bit short and though that produced moments of oohing and aaahing, he didn't take any wickets.
Now, after lunch, and presumably a quick regroup with the coaching staff, his first ball of a new spell is right up there. Almost a half-volley. Labuschagne looks for the drive, but he's falling over. The angle from over the wicket, and maybe just a slight bit of movement in the air, steers the ball between bat and pad and into the stumps.
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Empty seats
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.
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A spot of bother
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.
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Lunch: Aus 73 for 2
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.
Will Warner get the finish he wants to his Test career? It’s probably the biggest question around the Australian side at the moment, especially after he mapped out his finishing point last week.
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.
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Warner gone
He's caught down the leg side for 43 off 60.
He walks off with a shake of the head, potentially thinking about all the hard work he'd done, and how just as he was looking good, he gets out to a ball that has no business taking a wicket.
It's short. It's down leg. It's asking to be put away. And Warner's pull shot only gets a glove through to the keeper.
India were under the pump big time, and this wicket, from Shardul Thakur with just minutes to go to lunch, will freshen them up
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Australia on top
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.
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India's lengths
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
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Broad hearts Warner
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.”
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Siraj asking questions
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.
- has a good, conventional outswinger for the right-hander
- wobble seam surprise ball
- hits the deck hard and gets disconcerting bounce
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Is Shami being too short?
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%.
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All eyes on Warner
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.
He's decided he wants to retire from Tests next year at his home ground in Sydney, but if he wants to get that far, he's going to need a big innings here.
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Will India miss Ashwin?
Ricky Ponting via Channel Seven: "I’m not actually surprised that they’ve chosen to bowl first as there’s a little bit of cloud cover overhead. But, India will want to hope that cloud hangs around for a while, because if it blows over like it has the last few afternoons, by about 12 o’clock, the sun’s been out, and it’s going to be a perfect time to bat late In the day.
“Now that they’ve won the toss and bowled, they want to do some damage with this new ball. Because I think as this game goes on, I think it will turn and they would’ve wanted Ashwin to spin this ball away from the Australian left-handers, and he’s not there.”
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Siraj KOs Khawaja
Mohammed Shami's first over.
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Mohammed Siraj's first over
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Shami's second over. Australia's first runs after 15 balls.
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Siraj's second over. India's first wicket
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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.
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India have seen the data
David Warner averages 19 in England when right-arm quicks come at him from around the wicket.
Usman Khawaja averages 16 in England when right-arm quicks come at him from over the wicket.
These are the lines of attack that Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are both using to target Australia's openers.
This is a thing with Rohit Sharma and also Rahul Dravid. They like match-ups. They like using data to formulate his game plans
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Toss: India bowl
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.
7 years since India have decided to bowl first in a Test match. The last time they did so was in Nov 2015 against South Africa in Bengaluru
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
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India's prep
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.
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Picking the teams
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.
Some of those guys might see this as their last chance to win a Test title. And there are those in the Indian camp who might feel the same way. More of that in our preview, by Karthik Krishnaswamy.
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.
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Sights and sounds
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.
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Welcome!
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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