India are currently taking on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 at the Kennington Oval in London. Australia batted first and put a humongous total of 469 runs on board.
In reply, the Indian top-order did not live up to its reputation as the likes of Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14), and Virat Kohli (14) failed to strike big. Australia dismantled India’s hopes of getting close to their score with disciplined bowling on the second day.
There was a lot of hope pinned on Kohli, who was coming on the back of recent success in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. However, he, too, failed to put a halt to the batting collapse.
Kohli came to the crease after both the openers had got out when the team score was 30. Chasing a big first innings total, all hopes lay on him to play longer and get the team as close as to the Australia’s total. Kohli started his inning with a set template of pushing the balls into gaps and accumulating runs.
Mitchell Starc, who did not had a great start to the innings, returned to the attack for his second spell in the 17th over. Kohli welcomed him with the trademark cover drive and, with that, went into double digits. The 34-year-old batter started looking confident and was all set for a big score.
However, in the 19th over, the Australia left-arm pacer landed a killer blow to Team India’s hope as he dismissed Kohli on a slanted delivery out of nowhere. Bowling from over the wicket, Starc bowled a short delivery which bounced ferociously, catching Kohli off-guard. The former Indian captain, who was on the front foot, couldn’t handle it properly. The ball took an edge from the gloves, and went straight to Steve Smith in the second slip, who had to stretch to take an excellent overhead catch.
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After Kohli’s dismissal, Ravindra Jadeja (48 off 51 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (29 batting off 71) offered some aspiration to the enthusiastic Indian supporter with the partnership of 71 before the former fell to Nathan Lyon some minutes before the closing of play. India were reeling at 151 for five at stumps in response to Australia’s first innings score, trailing by 318 .
Earlier, centuries from Travis Head and Steve Smith got Australia to a score of 469 runs. India made a good fightback on Day 2 after taking just three wickets on the first day, with Mohammed Siraj‘s four-wicket haul leading them. Alex Carey’s quickfire 48 helped Australia cross the 450-run mark, after which India ensured the opposition’s tail didn’t wag too much.
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from June 09, 2023 at 12:07PM CricketTimes.com Staff