‘All the life has gone’: Australia dominates Day 1 of WTC final as India fooled by green-top at The Oval

Australia has crunched India on day one with Travis Head stealing the headlines, but an all-too-familiar issue has left one former skipper disappointed at the WTC final.

Travis Head has orchestrated a magnificent century off just 106 deliveries, propelling Australia to an imposing total of 327-3 at the close of play on day one of the World Test Championship final against India.

Head’s scintillating knock, his sixth Test hundred but the first on foreign soil, was complemented by a solid partnership with Steve Smith, who remains unbeaten at 95.

But even as Head put on a career-defining display making The Oval his playground, another issue was nagging at commentators and fans.

The topic of match-worthy pitches has dominated Test cricket in recent years. Throughout the drop-in pitch revolution, many have questioned how groundsmen still get wrong, even in the event of a World Championship Final.

It looked like it was going to be a fast bowling paradise and while there was some movement, it did not produce the expected fireworks.

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Australia struggled to score on the first hour of the day, going to drinks at 1/29 off 12 overs but bounced back in the second hour, scoring 1/44 in 11 overs in the second half of the session.

Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting took a swipe at the lifeless green-top at end of the 59th over, wondering whether we’d already seen the best it could offer as Australia settled into a dominant day.

“All the life has gone out of this wicket,” Ricky Ponting said.

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik agreed shortly after, lamenting that the “game is steadily slipping away”.

“This partnership is now worth 147,” he said. “They have 43 runs and just under nine overs (after tea). They are batting at a rate where they are pressing the accelerator. We heard Ricky (Ponting) speaking about the fact that they need to put the foot down and that‘s exactly what they have done.”

Even the teams were caught out by the green-top, with India choosing to leave out veteran spinner Ravi Ashwin at the eleventh hour due to fears he would not be effective.

Ashwin had even spoke to The Oval’s head groundsman Lee Fortis, who promised a “Good Oval pitch” with a lot in it for the quicks for the final.

“You always prepare good pitches but today some of our guys got hit on the practice pitches. It bounced a lot. So is it going to be similar?,” Ashwin asked Fortis in a video on his Youtube channel.

Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting took a swipe at the lifeless green-top at end of the 59th over, wondering whether we’d already seen the best it could offer as Australia settled into a dominant day.

Indian fans immediately criticised the team’s decision as the pitch quickly faded for the quicks and the reality of the match set in.

Ponting also commented on the fact India had just come out of a gruelling IPL season, leaving their bowlers to operate in short spells.

“It is a real danger period, I think, in the entire Test Match for India. You talked about it coming off IPL and tired legs. A lot of these bowlers are operating in seven-over spells. This is a real opportunity for Australia to put the foot down.”

It came as details of The International Cricket Council’s unorthodox precautions ahead of the final came to light on Wednesday. The official cricketing authority had prepared a backup pitch at The Oval to safeguard against potential disruptions by activists from Just Stop Oil.

The primary pitch, which has been carefully maintained in recent days, will still be used for the Test unless an extreme situation arises.

The decision to create an alternative pitch comes in response to a series of disturbances caused by members of coalition of environmental action groups aiming to raise awareness about climate change.

Over the past year, various sporting events in the UK, including Premier League football matches, the World Snooker Championships, and Premiership Rugby Union games, have been affected by their protests.

“It‘s something we got in the security briefing a couple days ago,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said ahead of the match.

“I’ve heard that they’re aware of it and kind of keep an eye out. But that’s as much as we’ve heard.

“So hopefully, it doesn‘t happen, obviously. But I’ve heard there’s a few different events that have been affected … my view is always there’s right ways to go about things and potentially not the right way to go about things. Whenever anyone’s got any beliefs, you just hope you take the right option.”

Security measures have been intensified for both teams and the Test itself, which has sold out for all five days.

Travis Head put on a masterclass of strokeplay.

Head and Smith proceeded to seize control of the game, denying India any further breakthroughs with an unbroken partnership worth 251 runs.

The day began with a moment of early success for India as Usman Khawaja departed for a duck, caught behind off Mohammed Siraj. David Warne (43), who fought valiantly against the disciplined Indian attack, fell short of a fifty Shardul Thakur found the faintest of edges.

Marnus Labuschagne, bruised by a brutal blow to his left thumb from Umesh Yadav, soldiered on after receiving medical treatment. His defiance came to an end when Mohammed Shami rattled his off stump, dismissing him for 26.

Head and Smith proceeded to seize control of the game, denying India any further breakthroughs with an unbroken partnership worth 251 runs.

Head dispatched the ball to all parts of the ground as Smith accumulated an unbeaten 95 off 227 deliveries.