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World Test Championship final live: Australia pile on the pain against India

Day two of the World Test Championship final was undeniably Australia’s day – but it could have been so much better if not for one small error from captain Pat Cummins.

Daniel Cherny in London
14 min read
12:54AMJune 09, 2023.
Updated 8:06AMJune 09, 2023
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India on the brink after Aussie excellence

Steve Smith conceded Pat Cummins’ wicket of Ajinkya Rahane off a no-ball hurt Australia despite the Aussies remaining in a strong position to claim their maiden World Test Championship crown.

Having been dismissed for 469 midway through the middle session of day two at The Oval, Australia ran through India’s top order as Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Cameron Green all struck.

India looked to have slumped to 5-87 when Cummins trapped veteran Rahane lbw on 17. But the third umpire found the Australian captain had overstepped – his fourth no-ball of the innings – with Rahane taking advantage of his reprieve to put on 71 for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja.

Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates after taking the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane of India before it was ruled a no ball. Picture: Getty Images
Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates after taking the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane of India before it was ruled a no ball. Picture: Getty Images

While Nathan Lyon broke through to remove the dangerous all-rounder for 48, caught at slip by Smith, Rahane dug in despite wearing several body blows to remain unbeaten on 29 at stumps. Wicketkeeper KS Bharat was on five, with India 5-151.

Smith said he wasn’t sure if Cummins had been bowling no-balls in the nets but added that the Rahane let-off had been costly.

“Obviously that hurt,” Smith said.

“No balls are costly and you want your bowlers behind the line as much as possible, and Jinks (Rahane) is still out there. No balls are never good.”

Tiny overstep costs Pat Cummins dearly

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Both Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara were bowled cheaply without offering a shot. Gill let one go from Scott Boland that seamed to hit middle and off, while Pujara shouldered arms to Green to lose his off-peg. It was poor batting but also a testament to Australia’s excellent bowling lines and keenness to attack the stumps.

Carey swept up again

Alex Carey’s sweeping frenzy was totemic of all that went wrong for Australia at critical junctures of this year’s tour of India. It was the same old story at The Oval on Thursday afternoon. Carey was taking it to India’s bowlers and hurtling the Aussies towards 500 after lunch on day two before opting to reverse sweep Jadeja and missing a straight one. It seemed an unnecessary shot and while Carey’s 48 was handy he probably left a few out there.

David Warner's unusual guard marks at The Oval.
David Warner's unusual guard marks at The Oval.

Hole-y Warner

The astute Ricky Ponting spotted something odd about Australia’s batting on Thursday. And it had to do with David Warner. Ponting has had a close-up view of the veteran opener as his coach at the Delhi Capitals. He identified on Channel 7 that Warner had been marking his guard in an unorthodox way, effectively digging two deep holes to help him with his balance. But as Ponting said, it had the potential to cause issues for Australia’s other batters more used to a conventional guard and now falling into one of Warner’s holes. Smith said he was surprised by Warner’s actions but had no issue with them.

“I had no idea that it was coming until I walked out and marked my guard and saw this big hole there and I was just wondering who made this. And I think I asked Marnus (Labuschagne) – and I said, ‘what’s going on down the end here? There’s this big hole that I’m about to fall into.’ But yeah, it was odd, but yeah, whatever the batter needs, I suppose, to get themselves in a good position.”

Left out

Just as he did before play on day one, Ravichandran Ashwin drew rapturous applause from Indian fans as he jogged laps before play. That was always going to be as good as it got after the champion off-spinner was omitted from the XI. Australia got more than half its mountainous 469 from left-handed batters and India’s quicks bowled poorly for much of the innings. Hindsight is marvellous, but leaving out the world’s No. 1 Test bowler seems madder by the day.

Greener pastures

It was not a great start to the tour for Green, who tried to drive a ball from Mohammed Shami that really ought to have been left alone. It was an Twenty20-style shot coming from a guy who had just been playing in the IPL for two months.

AUSSIE QUICKS KILL OFF INDIA’S TOP ORDER

– Daniel Cherny and Richard Lamberton

12.48PM: AUSTRALIA’S GREEN MONSTER STRIKES

Cameron Green claims his first Test wicket on English soil, mimicking Scott Boland’s first by knocking over the dangerous Cheteshwar Pujara who shoulders arms – a carbon copy wicket of Lord Boland’s Shubman Gill seed.

Australia has victory in its hands with plenty of time left in the final session of day two.

The under pressure Ajinkya Rahane – recalled for the one-off World Test Championship match – comes to the crease.

NOTE: our live coverage comes to the close but you can follow the live scores in the match centre above.

DAY TWO, SESSION THREE: INCREDIBLE SMITH, HEAD STATISTIC

While Steve Smith and Travis Head’s 285-run partnership can hardly be called underrated, this statistic proves just how special it was.

In recent history (2016-2021), building big batting partnerships (300+) against India’s bowling attack has been nigh on impossible.

But Smith and Head’s first innings partnership is now the highest against India since Virat Kohli took over the Test captaincy from MS Dhoni.

The team as a whole also became the first team to bat for more than 100 over in an innings in the World Test Championship finals, surpassing New Zealand’s mark of 99.2 which was set in the previous edition of the tournament style format.

Steve Smith celebrates with Travis Head on day one. Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty
Steve Smith celebrates with Travis Head on day one. Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty

11.50PM AND THAT TEA: BANG, BANG! CUMMINS, BOLAND STRIKE

Mitchell Starc left his radar in Sydney ... Pat Cummins and Scott Boland didn’t.

Failing to move that pesky Duke ball early, Cummins manages to jag one back to trap counterpart Rohit Sharma plump in front to halt India’s fast start.

Boland says ‘Hold my beer, skip’, spearing a peach of a delivery into Shubman Gill’s off stump who offers no shot.

Australia is all over India after stemming a hot start from the batting side. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are now in the pair’s crosshairs.

The pair survive a tricky period before tea with NINE wickets fall on day two as it the Test stands – a figure which will have Aussie itching to get back out in the middle for the final session.

Shubman Gill watches his castle crumble. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty
Shubman Gill watches his castle crumble. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

11.09PM: AUSTRALIA ALL OUT WITH A BANG

What an opening innings for the Aussies! Australia has 469 on the board as they prepare to rip into India’s top order at The Oval.

Spearheaded by centuries to Steve Smith and Travis Head, handy cameos from Alex Carey, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon pushed Australia into a winnable position.

The fact Australia lost seven wickets on day two won’t bother the Aussie attack and with the wicket starting to crack under the ‘baking’ London sun, expect Nathan Lyon to play a role late in the day.

WARNER SABOTAGING TEAMMATES?

Ever the eagle-eye, Ricky Ponting says David Warner may inadvertently be making life harder for his Australian teammates.

Ponting, who coaches Warner at the IPL’s Delhi Capitals, has noticed the opener scratching his guard in a manner that has caused issues for Australia’s other batters.

Warner made an impressive 43 on Wednesday to help shore up his spot ahead of the Ashes.

“Warner worked overtime on his crease yesterday,” Ponting said during the innings break. “Normally when batters take guard they take middle stump, leg stump or off stump. The interesting thing for me was the line (Warner’s mark) that ran parallel to the stumps.

“Now having worked with Davey and analysed his batting over the last couple of years, when he’s batting poorly his backfoot movement has gone outside leg, therefore when he’s moving back and across his weight is going away from the ball.

“Only two days ago at training he (Warner) came up with this plan of digging two holes and making sure when he moved his backfoot, his foot stayed within those two holes. So when moves back his heal goes into the hole. If he moves too far to the off stump his toes go into the hole.

“What that does is create a problem for the other batters. Now the batters are coming out and taking their guard and standing in these big, deep holes that David Warner has created and as a batter there’s nothing worse.”

David Warner's unusual guard marks at The Oval.
David Warner's unusual guard marks at The Oval.

10.10PM: ASHES INJURY UPDATE

Josh Hazlewood is doing sprints with assistant coach Andre Borovec at lunch as the paceman seeks to prove his fitness for the start of the Ashes next week.

Hazlewood was ruled out of this Test after sustaining a side issue in the IPL.

LUNCH WRAP: ‘THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK’

– Daniel Cherny in London

Steve Smith edged past Matthew Hayden on the list of most Test centuries for Australia but India worked its way back into the World Test Championship final during the opening session of day two.

Having glided to his 31st Test ton inside three balls after the resumption at The Oval, Smith was involved in a mid-pitch run-in with Indian firebrand Mohammed Siraj before eventually chopping onto one from all-rounder Shardul Thakur as India put the clamps on the Aussies after finally ending Smith’s 285-run fourth-wicket stand with Travis Head.

With Alex Carey (22) and Pat Cummins (two) at the crease, Australia was still well-placed having reached 7-422 at lunch, but India gave itself a fighting chance after the decider had appeared to be slipping from its grasp.

Smith started the day on 95 but hit triple figures with consecutive leg-side clips as Siraj strayed early. It was Smith’s seventh Test ton in England, drawing him level with Steve Waugh and leaving him behind only Don Bradman on 11 for the most Test centuries by a non-Englishman in the UK.

It also left Smith in outright third behind just Ricky Ponting (41) and Waugh (32) in terms of Test centuries for Australia. Hayden, with 30 Test tons, was at The Oval on Thursday in his commentary guise.

A moment after raising his bat, Smith veered away from his guard at the last moment after appearing to be distracted by the hovering spider cam. A clearly frustrated Siraj tossed the ball down the wicket, albeit not in Smith’s direct vicinity.

The pair were later involved in an exchange of words as they crossed paths.

But India didn’t need pantomime to claim bragging rights from the first couple of hours on a sunny morning in London.

Having destroyed India’s pace attack on day one, Head passed 150 before being cramped by a short ball from Siraj to be removed for a masterful 163 from 174 balls.

Australia was still in a dominant position at 4-361 but the South Australian’s exit sparked a collapse. Looking like he was stuck in IPL-mode, Cameron Green loosely slashed at one outside off from Mohammed Shami to be caught behind for six.

Smith, having grafted for 268 balls, departed meekly for 121 via Thakur’s medium-pace, before Mitchell Starc ran himself out for five after calling for a single to mid-off only to be undone by a direct hit from sub fielder Axar Patel.

Head struck 25 fours and a six in what was his fourth Test score between 150 and 175.

9.08PM: RUN OUT DISASTER ROCKS AUSSIES

It’s officially a collapse! Australia’s ‘second’ all-rounder Mitchell Starc is run out by substitute field Axar Patel in a huge hammer blow – and Starc has no one to blame but himself.

Punching the ball back past the bowler, Starc called, set off, and OUT!

Lovely piece of fielding from Patel is back in the pavilion as if running out Starc was fate.

Posting 500 is suddenly looking like Everest for Australia.

8.40PM: SMITH THROWS WICKET AWAY

It was all going so smoothly ... but Test cricket has a knack of flipping the script in a flash.

Steve Smith (121) looked in total control after notching his third century at The Oval before a lapse in concentration ended the superb knock.

Smith pushed at a stock ball outside off, playing on to hand Shardul Thakur his second wicket.

Australia has handed momentum back to India here with the tail now exposed.

8.17PM: GREEN GONE ON GREEN TOP

Cameron Green’s front foot has again proved his undoing, edging an attempted drive to Shubman Gill at second slip.

Mohammed Shami enticed Green into the drive, a shot that has proved to be his achilles heel in his young Test career.

Green’s former mentor and Channel 7 commentator Justin Langer says the all-rounder must learn from the wicket.

“All the great batsmen adapt,” Langer said in commentary. “Look at Steve Smith he’s come off not much cricket and scored a century. Green will learn from this. He’s an immense talent, there is challenges in batting but the great players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma adapt and that’s the next phase for young Cameron Green.”

Plenty to think about for the big fella.

Cameron Green has plenty to think about. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP
Cameron Green has plenty to think about. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP

8.00PM: HEADS EPIC KNOCK OVER

Travis Head’s (163 from 174) incredible knock ends in a whimper, finally succumbing to India’s short-pitched barrage to glove one down leg.

But the damage may have been done if Head’s perfect century-win conversion is anything to go by – Australia has never lost a Test match when the swashbuckling left-hander converts to triple figures.

The fine knock will be bittersweet for Head with the Aussies greeted with perfect batting conditions at The Oval.

However, if we were to pick some nits from Head’s innings, his ability to play the legside short ball will give future opponents plenty to think about – ‘shame’ India managed to execute their plan 163 runs too late.

“It’s not a natural shot,” Hayden said of Head’s dismissal. “He loves to go over and through the onside but that was played on the off-side.”

7.32PM: SMUDGE SCORES 31ST TON

Well, that didn’t take long! Smudge moves within one century of equalling Steve Waugh’s ton record with consecutive boundaries from the opening over of day two – and hasn’t it garnered a reaction from Mohammed Siraj.

If the fiery India quick obviously didn’t take kindly to gifting Smith his seventh Test ton on English soil, he was ropeable with the Aussie pulled away during his run up. This could heat up very shortly.

Back to the legend that is Steve Smith ... he now draws level with Steve Waugh on seven Test centuries in England. Of non-Englishmen, only The Don (11) has more.

Furthermore, Smith is just the second touring player to score three centuries at The Oval.

Travis Head passes 150 down the other end.

WHY HEAD IS UNDROPPABLE

If Travis Head’s centuries to wins conversion is anything to go by Australia will claim the only trophy absent from its bulging cabinet.

Head smashed an unbeaten first day century in the World Test Championship final to turn the match on its head after India elected to bowl first.

Head has never lost in the baggy green after scoring a century, a statistic which makes him as undroppable as Steve Smith and Pat Cummins.

And after being dropped by three different selection panels since making his debut, Australia’s brains trust will be pencilling him for the five Ashes Test yesterday.

“Yes I’d love to play every single Test match, that’s not always going to be the case,” Head said after day one at The Oval. “Hopefully I don’t get dropped too much in the future.”

We don’t think you’ll need to worry about that anytime soon, Trav.

CA MUST SHOW SMITH THE MONEY

– Ben Horne

Cricket Australia should take a completely different approach to its next contract negotiation with Steve Smith.

Guarantee him the same money he’s on now — in the region of $2 million — but to play Test match cricket only.

A cut in cricket, but without the pay cut.

Smith’s masterful knock in the World Test Championship Final is a fresh reminder of the critical role he can play in the evolution of this team and why it is essential Australia locks him into another couple of years of Test cricket.

DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS: RECAP EVERY KEY MOMENT HERE

The series of cryptic comments Smith made last summer about how long his Australian career might continue on for should not be dismissed lightly.

Before this Test match, Smith was again coy about his future, effectively shutting down the line of questioning.

Just because Smith is still posting magnificent innings like he has at The Oval against India, doesn’t automatically mean he will just simply continue on until the runs dry up.

Smith might churn out centuries like a robot, but don’t underestimate the toll the game has taken on him both mentally and physically when you consider battles with insomnia, a degenerative back and Cape Town 2018.

Steve Smith will resume on day two of the World Test Championship with a century in sight.
Steve Smith will resume on day two of the World Test Championship with a century in sight.

In these ever-changing, fickle times, elasticity is needed and while most players around the world are seeking the flexibility to hunt the massive dollars in T20 cricket, Cricket Australia must go the opposite way with Smith and recognise the unique asset he is for the game.

Allow him to quit international white ball cricket — should he desire — but still pay him the top dollar of a three-format superstar to reflect how important Test cricket is to Australia, and how important Smith is to Test cricket.

If it means Smith continues on in Test cricket and doesn’t retire prematurely, it will be a deal worth every penny. As it would be for the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins should they choose a similar path in the months and years ahead.

Australia simply cannot afford a situation where David Warner bows out during this home summer, Usman Khawaja possibly not long after, only to have Smith also walk off into the New York sunset when he’s still arguably the best batsman in the world.

Not just for the runs Smith himself still brings, but for the impact his presence can have on a new-set of openers and the likes of Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Cameron Green around him building a new era of batting success.

Australia badly needs Smith to steer in next era in Test cricket.
Australia badly needs Smith to steer in next era in Test cricket.

Just ask Head about Smith’s influence in defusing pressure.

“I‘ve always said I do really enjoy batting with Steve because of how much attention he receives,” Head said.

“ … He’s our best batter, he’s unbelievable in these conditions, and he receives so much attention from opposition in terms of plans and how difficult he is to bowl to, so I’ve always said going out to bat with him, it feels like you’re in the shadow of that, you can sort of stay under the radar and go about your business.”

Not to mention the brilliant leadership role Smith has played as fast bowling skipper Pat Cummins’ vice-captain, able to temporarily take the reins at a moment’s notice.

If Smith scores the five runs needed to reach 31 Test centuries at The Oval, he will trail Steve Waugh by just one and close into within 10 of Ricky Ponting’s all-time record of 41 Test hundreds.

Smith said during the summer he didn’t feel he’d be around long enough to challenge Ponting’s mark.

But Australian cricket will be much richer if it can convince Smith to bat on in Test cricket and it has to be a priority after this Ashes is completed.

Whether he ultimately reaches Ponting’s record or not doesn’t really matter to Smith’s legacy as the best since Bradman – and may not motivate him at all – but keeping him around the dressing room long enough for it to become possible will help Australia build towards a new era.

More Coverage

Have Aussies found an Ashes winning batting blueprint?
Robert Craddock
How Travis Head made selectors look silly again
Daniel Cherny in London

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