Australia donned the Day 1 of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship Final at the Oval in England. Asked to bat, the Pat Cummins-led side after losing a few early wickets dominated the opposition bowlers and ended with the score of 327 for three at the stumps on Day 1.

Match Summary

Australia: 327-3 (85)

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Usman Khawaja-3.4 ov), 2-71 (David Warner-21.4 ov), 3-76 (Marnus Labuschagne-24.1 ov)

SCORECARD

Australian openers had a miserable time within the first hour of the play as Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami tested them with impeccable lines and lengths. Usman Khawaja had no answers to the onslaught by the opposition bowlers as he bagged a ten-ball duck. David Warner looked good to the eyes as he played some crisp shots and scored 43 off 60 balls with the help of eight boundaries. Warner stitched a 69 run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne (26: 62b, 3x4).

After taking the wicket of Labuschagne right after the lunch break, India had no answers to the class of Steve Smith and Travis Head. They stitched an unbeaten 251 partnership for the fourth wicket and took the game away from India. While Smith scored an unbeaten 95 runs off 227 deliveries with the help of 14 boundaries, Head became the first player to smash a century in the final of the World Test Championship. He was unbeaten on 146 runs off 156 balls with the help of 22 boundaries.

Smith and Head's sensational partnership helped Australia score 327 runs. For India, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur picked one wicket each.

The partnership of Travis Head and Steve Smith dented India on Day 1 of the #WTC23 Final ??

Report ??https://t.co/EWM1zGHN4e

— ICC (@ICC) June 7, 2023

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

Match Details

Toss: India, elected to field
Venue: Kennington Oval, London
Start time: 0930 hrs GMT
Match officials: Richard Illingworth, Chris Gaffaney (On-field Umpires); Richard Kettleborough (TV Umpire); Kumar Dharmasena (Reserve Umpire); Richie Richardson (Match-referee)