India’s quick bowlers hit back superbly in the first session on day two of the ICC World Test Championship Final, dismissing both centurions – Travis Head and Steve Smith – and picking up four wickets in all to leave Australia 422/7 at lunch.
Smith had resumed on 95* and brought up his century off the third ball of the day, clipping the first two deliveries he faced to the leg-side boundary.
And the Smith and Head pairing also passed the previous highest for a fourth-wicket stand in Tests at The Oval inside the opening 15 minutes of play as Australia got off to an excellent start.
With the sun shining bright in south London it looked ominous for India’s bowling attack as Head brought up his 150.
But the second new ball still had plenty of life in it, and the quartet of pacer bowlers turned the momentum in India’s favour with some excellent spells throughout the morning session.
It was a fired-up Mohammed Siraj who made the first breakthrough, tucking Head up with a ball that rose into his body and caught a glove through to the keeper, with the top-scorer departing for 163.
And Mohammed Shami soon made it two wickets in the session when Cameron Green (6) edged a lovely delivery through to the slips where it was well held by Shubman Gill.
Shami and Siraj both bowled beautifully in the opening hour, but it was the change bowlers in India’s much-discussed four-man pace unit who kept the momentum going after drinks.
With Umesh Yadav bowling with pace and aggression at the pavilion end, Shardul Thakur came in from the other and got the scalp that India desperately wanted, with a tempter catching the inside edge of Smith’s bat to direct the ball onto the stumps.
And Mohammed Shami soon made it two wickets in the session when Cameron Green (6) edged a lovely delivery through to the slips where it was well held by Shubman Gill.
Shami and Siraj both bowled beautifully in the opening hour, but it was the change bowlers in India’s much-discussed four-man pace unit who kept the momentum going after drinks.
With Umesh Yadav bowling with pace and aggression at the pavilion end, Shardul Thakur came in from the other and got the scalp that India desperately wanted, with a tempter catching the inside edge of Smith’s bat to direct the ball onto the stumps.
Mitchell Starc was the next Aussie to depart, run out superbly by the substitute fielder Axar Patel after attempting an extremely optimistic quick single.
And India will be looking to wrap things up as quickly as possible after the interval, with Alex Carey and Pat Cummins out in the middle and three more wickets required.
Australia had resumed their first innings on 327/3 after a first day that had been dominated by Smith and Head’s huge partnership (a stand that eventually reached 285 before Head departed).
In hindsight, the partnership between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne that lasted most of the first morning saw off the trickiest time for batting.
And although the pair fell either side of lunch on Wednesday, their efforts protected Smith and Head from the worst of the conditions, and the result was a partnership that had Australia well on the front foot.
India needed wickets and plenty of them early in the second day, and they got exactly that thanks to an outstanding team display that has kept their hopes of getting back into a winning position in this match just-about alive.
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