On the second day of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final at the Oval, Australia resumed from the overnight score of 327/3. Steve Smith and Travis Head moved the scoreboard ticking by scoring boundaries on the bad balls. This quick addition of runs soon took the team total to 361/3 as the duo added 34 in just six overs.
Meanwhile, Smith completed his 31st century in Test cricket. On the other hand, the centurion of Day 1, Head, also contributed beautifully. Mohammad Siraj brought India back into the game with a brilliant short ball on the leg stump that resulted in the big wicket of Head.
Siraj was the flagbearer behind India’s improved performance with the ball. The right-arm-pacer embraced the challenge of bowling to Australia’s powerful batting lineup and picked up four vital wickets.
Siraj troubled the Aussie batters with well-directed short-pitched stuff. The 29-year-old got the wickets of Head (163), Pat Cummins (9) and Nathan Lyon (9) on Day 2 to end with figures of 4/108 in 28.3 overs. Earlier, he took the priceless wicket of opener Usman Khawaja with a scintillating delivery on Day 1.
The Hyderabad-born bowler peppered Australian batters with short-pitched offerings and was even involved in a heated argument with Smith. Siraj got hit for two consecutive boundaries. After that, he had to stop in his run-up as Smith pulled out after being distracted by something. In response, Siraj threw the ball past Smith to wicketkeeper KS Bharat. Fortunately, the incident did not boil over, and the game moved on from there.
However, Legendary Australian captain Ricky Ponting praised Siraj for his aggressive attitude on the field while bowling. Ponting said he liked the ultimate competitor attitude of Siraj as he never backs down from the challenge and is always ready to test the batters with short-pitch deliveries.
“I loved seeing that and he looks like the ultimate competitor. Maybe sometimes he gets carried away and goes a little bit over the top, but you need those guys in your side when things aren’t going well,” Ponting told the ICC.
“He was the one today who said I am going to be the guy that is going to turn things around and what I loved was that his pace didn’t drop at all during the whole innings. From the first ball yesterday morning until late this afternoon, his pace was hovering around that 86 or 87-mile an hour mark and that says a lot about a great attitude,” Ponting added.
Siraj (4/108) bowled his best, but India could not stop Australia from amassing 469 runs in the first innings at The Oval, with Head and Smith (121) scoring centuries.
In response, India failed to form a good partnership and continues to lose wickets at regular intervals. Big names like Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14), and Virat Kohli (14) couldn’t capitalise on the start that they got. They finished the day on 151/5, 318 behind Australia and 118 short of avoiding a follow-on. Each of Australia’s five bowlers took a wicket. A 71-run fifth-wicket stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja gave India hope.
Few minutes before the closure of Day 2, Lyon dismissed Jadeja for 48, while Rahane remained unbeaten at stumps on 29 with Bharat at the other end on 5.
