‘New chockers in World Cricket’ -Fans react as Australia beat India by 209 runs to claim first WTC title
Travis Head was the top scorer for Australia in the first innings with 163 off 174 balls.
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Jun 11, 2023 5:45 pm
Australia (Source: Twitter)
India and Australia fought it out at the Oval for The World Test Championship final. The Kangaroos dictated terms from the first innings. This happened even after India had a slight upper hand at one stage when they reduced Australia to 76-3. But Steve Smith and Travis Head took matters into their own hands and scored 121 off 268 balls with 19 fours and 163 runs off 174 balls with 25 fours and one six. These two took Australia to a dominating score of 469 in the first innings.
The Indian top order could not deliver, and India found themselves tottering at 71-4 before Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane had a partnership that calmed things down. But, Jadeja was dismissed for 48 off 51 balls on Day 2 by Nathan Lyon. Then on Day 3, Srikar Bharat was the first wicket to fall as he was clean-bowled by Scott Boland. Then, Rahane and Shardul Thakur tried to turn things around for India with a 108-run partnership. Rahane made 89 off 129 balls with 11 fours and one six. Thakur made 51 off 109 balls with six fours but India was kept down to 296.
India capitulated to 234 on the first session of Day 5
This gave Australia a valuable 173-run lead. Though India bowled better in the second innings, the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc put together a couple of vital 40s. Alex Carey carried his bat through the second innings and scored a valuable 66 off 105 balls with eight fours. The Kangaroos declared at 270-8 and set India a target of 444 runs to win on Day 5.
The India top order was even scratchier in the second innings as they succumbed to the might of the Australian bowlers and capitulated to just 234 on the first session of Day 5. After the fall of Virat Kohli’s wicket at 179, it was a walk in the park for Australia. The Indian top-order batters got starts but could not convert them into big scores. The Australian bowlers bowled beautifully as a unit throughout the WTC final and did not allow the Indian batters to settle. In the end, Australia beat India by 209 runs.
Only Ajinkya Rahane emerged as a bright spot in this test for India. The bowlers lost the plot in the first innings and the Indian batters did not rise to the occasion. India and their 10-year drought of not winning a World event continues. It remains to be seen if things will change in the ODI World Cup which will be held on home soil.
Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter:
In 2021, India's disastrous performance in the World Test Championship finals was Virat Kohli's failure as a captaincy, but two years later, history repeating itself is suddenly a team failure, because Rohit Sharma can't be a bad captain! Indian cricket is a joke.#WTCFinals
Indian Fans: Agar last session tak match Jaye to sayad jeet sakte he😅 Team India: Bhai hum ko jaldi jaldi out hona padega kyu ki hum ko panvel nikal na he🚋#WTCFinals
It's now 9th time team india broken our heart, And 10th is loading later this year…
@ImRo45 bro just don't play test and t20i. You are done with it. Just focus on ODIs. Rahul Dravid ji please resign. Neither you exhibit good cricket in any format nor any confidence. Shocking team selection as always. @imVkohli you deserve better. #ViratKohli#WTCFinals
– Lost 2014 Final. – Lost 2015 Semis. – Lost 2016 Semis. – Lost 2017 Final. – Lost 2019 Semis. – Lost 2021 WTC Final. – Lost 2022 Semis. – Lost 2023 WTC Final.
– The wait continues for Indian fans, 10 years since the last ICC Trophy.
The team plays the best T20 league in the world, it should be normal for them to move on. This pain actually affects all the fans more than anything. Someone needs to clean out the mess created by the big egos inside the dressing room soon.#INDvsAUS#WTCFinals
