• IND vs AUS, WTC Final Day 2: Shardul Thakur strike, Steve Smith departs for 121

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    IND vs AUS, WTC Final Day 2: Shardul Thakur strike, Steve Smith departs for 121
    Australia maintained control throughout the day with a century from Head and progress towards a hundred from Smith.

    Digital Desk: Steve Smith and Travis Head showed a masterpiece in batting on Day 1 of the eagerly awaited World Test Championship Final between India and Australia. Australia maintained control throughout the day with a century from Head and progress towards a hundred from Smith. After lunch, India dealt Australia a blow when Mohammed Shami picked up Marnus Labuschagne, but the pair kept Australia going, hitting an outstanding 327/3 at stumps.

    At lunch on Wednesday at the Oval, Australia had earlier in the day scored 73/2. Just before the interval, India dismissed David Warner at 43 while Usman Khawaja was out for a duck thanks to Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur. This came after Rohit Sharma and company choose to bowl first despite Ravichandran Ashwin being the top-ranked Test bowler in the world.

    Similar to the previous occasion, when India met New Zealand in 2021 at Southampton, the five-day one-off Test match has a reserve day in place in case rain interferes. The greatest reward in Test cricket will be decided in this game, and both teams will do everything in their power to win. The world is impatiently waiting to see who will prevail given the big stakes.