After dominating India over the course of five days Australia secured their maiden World Test Championship 2023 title on Sunday at the Oval, London.
India succumbed to a score of 234 in 63.3 overs with Mohammad Shami as the last player standing with a score of 13(8)*. In a single over, Australia’s talisman Scott Boland changed the dynamics of the entire game as he dismissed set batter Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.
Boland exploited Kohli’s Achilles heel as he lured him to play a cover drive. On any other day, Kohli would have opted to play against the shot but this time he couldn’t control his desire to play his beloved shot. He went for the shot but only found a thick edge towards the slip, Steve Smith dived low to his right to take a stunning catch. Kohli lost his wicket just one run shy of his 29th half-century (49 off 78 balls).
On the final ball of the over, Jadeja fell to Boland’s precise in-swinging delivery. Jadeja had no option except to offer a shot, he found an edge and the ball comfortably carried into the gloves of Alex Carey.
Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur once again tried to string up a partnership to keep India’s innings from falling apart. But their desperate counterattack came to an end as Rahane lost his wicket to Mitchell Starc. His dismissal was similar to Kohli, an unneeded shot that carried comfortably behind the stumps. Rahane’s fairytale return to the Indian Test team came to an end with a score of 46(108).
Thakur fell in the next over for a five-ball duck as Nathan Lyon was introduced into the attack. Umesh Yadav and KS Bharat survived for a few overs.
But Umesh didn’t have an answer to deal with Starc’s lethal pace bowling attack. Yadav walked back to the pavilion with a score of 1.
With an inevitable defeat on the cards, Mohammad Shami entertained the crowd by picking up two consecutive boundaries. Siraj Tried to do the same with a reverse sweep shot, but the ball landed straight into the hands of Boland.
This marked the end of the second innings of the Indian team for a score of 234 in 63.3 overs.
Brief Scores: India (Virat Kohli 49(78), Ajinkya Rahane 46(108) and Nathan Lyon 4/41) vs Australia. (ANI)
