Team India is in a spot of bother after the end of day 2. Australia after a scintillating outing with the bat managed to dominate the Indian batters too.
New Delhi: Australia continued their dominant show on Day 2 of the WTC Final against India at the Kennington Oval in London on Thursday but this time with the ball. After putting 469 runs on board, they sent half of the Indian team back to the pavilion at the end of stumps day 2. India at the end of day 2 is betting on 151 runs at the loss of five wickets. Ajinkya Rahane (29 not out) and Srikar Bharat (5 not out).
Both Rohit and Gill started well and scored some frequent boundaries but failed to judge the uneven bounce of the pitch. The Aussie captain Cummins dismissed the Indian skipper Rohit (15 runs off 26 balls) in the sixth over itself giving India a big blow in the huge first-innings chase. Australia threw India on the backfoot completely after dismissing the man in form, Shubman Gill for just 13 runs off 15 balls.
Team India lost both their opener before tea on a score of 37. Virat Kohli (14 off 31) and Cheteshwar Pujara (14 off 25) had huge responsibility on their shoulders but couldn’t contribute much either. None of India’s top four could manage to get past the 20 runs mark.
After that, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja joined a crucial 71-run partnership and helped the Indian innings recover a little but Nathan Lyon sent Jadeja (48 runs off 51 balls) back before the southpaw could do further damage.
Head, Smith’s Twin Tons Help AUS Post 469 Runs
Mohammed Siraj picked a four-wicket haul to lead a solid fightback from India on day two of the World Test Championship final and bowl out Australia for 469 in 121.3 overs of their first innings at The Oval, here on Thursday.
Australia began day two from their overnight score of 327/3 with Steve Smith making 121, his 31st Test century while Travis Head crossed 150 for the fourth time in his career to top-score with 163 as the duo shared a massive 285-run stand for the fourth wicket after being reduced to 76/3.
But India, who took only three wickets on a lacklustre day one, made a spirited fightback to pick the rest of seven wickets to bowl out Australia for 469 on a pitch, where there is some movement and variable bounce on offer.
A persistent Siraj was the pick of bowlers for India with 4/108, also becoming the 42nd bowler from the country to scalp 50 wickets in Tests. Pacers Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur took two wickets each while Ravindra Jadeja had a scalp to his name.
