The Rohit Sharma-led India are facing Pat Cummins‘ Australia in the final of World Test Championship (WTC) 2023. The one-off Test kicked off on Wednesday (June 7) at the Oval. On the first day of the summit clash, the Baggy Green bounced back strongly after losing their top three batters early in the innings to reach the commanding position.
Australia, the table toppers of the WTC 2021-2023 cycle were 327/3 in 85 overs at the close of play on Day 1. The middle order duo of Travis Head (146*) and Steve Smith (95*) added a valuable 251 for the fourth wicket after being reduced to 76/3 at one stage.
Head, who has been in great touch since the 2021-2022 Ashes, continued his marvellous form of piling runs whenever his team demands. He batted with an aggressive mindset throughout his innings. The left-handed batter played a counter-attacking knock and helped his side to keep India at bay. On an action-packed day at The Oval, Head delivered his first Test century in England and the fifth in the longest format.
Head became the first batter to score a hundred in the WTC final. The southpaw has faced 156 balls in his inning so far, in which he hammered 22 fours and a solitary six.
After the left-hander moved the momentum of the ICC WTC Final towards his side with a magnificent century on the opening day in London, Australian great Ricky Ponting couldn’t stop himself from comparing Head to the impeccable wicketkeeper-batter of his time, Adam Gilchrist.
“He probably is (similar to Gilchrist). In fact he is probably scoring quicker now than Gilly probably ever did. His strike rate through this (World Test Championship) qualification period is 81, which is higher than anyone else in the world to have scored more than 500 runs,” Ponting told the ICC.
“His confidence is growing by the game, his strike rate keeps going up, he hits boundaries early on in his innings which puts pressure back on the bowlers which is what you want from your middle order players, and his last two years have been quite remarkable,” Ponting added.
Earlier, India won the toss and invited Australia to bat first. India started the day strongly as speedster Mohammed Siraj dismissed Usman Khawaja for a duck in the first session. Opener David Warner and top-ranked batter Marnus Labuschagne held the fort, adding 69 runs for the second wicket before the Aussie southpaw fell for 43 (60). Mohammed Shami got rid of Labuschagne (26) early in the second session; however, Smith and Head ensured that Australia remained in the driving seat at the closure of the day’s play.
