After a rather frustrating morning session, Australia hit back by mopping up India’s lower order, and then extended their lead to 196 by tea on day three of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.
At 260 for 6, India had a small window of opportunity to claw their way back into the game. However, Australia shut the door quickly, with Pat Cummins dismissing Ajinkya Rahane for 89. Cameron Green also played a vital role in that dismissal by pouching a one-handed stunner at gully. Cummins then cleaned up Umesh Yadav for just five.
At that moment, with wickets falling at the other end, Shardul Thakur decided to take the aggressive route, cracking a couple of drives off Cummins. The on-drive in particular was a shot of class, which impressed even Ricky Ponting on air. Unfortunately for India, Shardul fell in the very next over, edging Green to the wicketkeeper. It was a gritty innings from Shardul, especially after he took a couple of nasty blows on his arm earlier in the innings.
Mitchell Starc then provided the finishing touches by removing Mohammed Shami. Just before Shami fell to Starc, there was a bit of drama in the middle. Mohammed Siraj, Shami’s pace colleague, was adjudged LBW off Green. The Australian players duly walked off the field, believing that they had wrapped up the innings. Siraj, though, took the review and replays showed that he had got an inside edge. As a result, the Australian players had to take the field again, but it didn’t cost them much.
In their second innings, Australia did lose David Warner in the fourth over, with KS Bharat pouching a fine diving catch. Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne then steered the side to the break. The duo did have a couple of narrow escapes, including a mix-up in the sixth over.
In the opening session, India had shown a semblance of fight as they chipped away at the sizeable lead. They began the day on a poor note, losing Bharat in the first over itself. Scott Boland sneaked through Bharat’s defence with his trademark nip-backer to shatter the timber. In the same over, Boland could also have dismissed Shardul, but Khawaja dropped a sharp chance at third slip. That dropped catch was perhaps the first sign that the rub of the green was turning India’s way.
Shardul was once again dropped, with Green putting down a rather straightforward chance at gully off Cummins. The Australian team was left even more frustrated when a loud LBW shout from Green against Rahane was turned down in the 49th over. Replays later suggested it would have been the umpire’s call. At the fag end of the session, India had a few more narrow escapes as Warner fluffed a rather tough chance at first slip, with Rahane getting the reprieve.
To make matters worse, in the last over of the session, Shardul was adjudged LBW, but when he reviewed, replays showed that it was a front-foot no-ball. On both the occasions, Cummins was the bowler. In-between all those close shaves, the duo of Shardul and Rahane did play eye-catching shots – flicks, pulls and drives. Rahane also showcased his class by steering a few to third man.
Brief scores: Australia 469 (Travis Head 163, Steve Smith 121; Mohammed Siraj 4-108) and 23/1 (Mohammed Siraj 1-14) lead India 296 (Ajinkya Rahane 89; Pat Cummins 3-83) by 196 runs