Australia beat India by a large margin of 209 runs on Day 5 of the 2023 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final on Sunday, June 11, at The Oval in London. Pat Cummins was in charge of Australia. Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, won the toss and told Australia to bat first on the first day, June 7.
Australia scored a huge 469 runs in their first game. Travis Head (163 runs off 174 balls) and Steve Smith (121 runs off 268 balls) both had centuries. Mohammed Siraj took four wickets. Thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s (89 off 129), India was only able to score 296 runs in their first game. On the other hand, Australia ended their game on June 10 with 270 runs and 8 wickets. Pat Cummins served as the team’s captain, and they gave India a score of 444 to win. On the last day, India was bowled out for 234 runs.
Here are some things to talk about from the match between Australia and India:
Travis Head’s strong hit in the first inning put the team ahead.
For the Pat Cummins-led team in the WTC final, Travis Head was crucial. In the first game, he scored a fantastic hundred. The 29-year-old had a great game in the main event. He scored the first-ever hundred in the WTC final, getting 163 runs in just 174 balls, and he and Steve Smith put up 285 runs together over 408 balls.
Steve Smith’s hot hit
Australia defeated the Rohit Sharma-led team, and Steve Smith played a significant role in that. In the first inning, he hit 19 fours and got 121 runs off 268 balls. The 34-year-old has more centuries for Australia than Matthew Hayden and is only behind Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting in that list.
Mohammed Siraj’s amazing bowling spell
In the WTC final, Mohammed Siraj played a big role for India. He got four wickets in Australia’s first turn at bat. During the match, the Indian seamer took his 50th wicket in the longest version of the game. In Australia’s second turn at bat, he also took a wicket.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of the team that lost, said, “I thought we got off to a good start when we won the toss and put them in to bat in those conditions.” We bowled well in the first practice, but then we didn’t bowl as well as we could have. Gotta give the Australian batters credit. Head came in, and he and Steven Smith played really well. That just caught us a little off guard.
We knew it was hard to come back after losing, but we did a good job. We kept fighting until the end. Rohit Sharma: I thought we got off to a good start when we won the toss and put them in to bat under those conditions. We bowled well in the first practice, but then we didn’t bowl as well as we could have. Gotta give the Australian batters credit.
Head came in, and he and Steven Smith played really well. That just caught us a little off guard. We knew it was hard to come back after losing, but we did a good job. During those four years, we’ve worked hard. We’ve really done well by making it to two rounds. But we’d also like to go a mile further.
We worked hard for two years to get here, and you can’t take that away from us. Everyone in the unit did a great job. We’re sorry we didn’t make it to the final, but we’ll keep our heads up and keep fighting. (Applause from the crowd.) It’s been great. They have lost track of time. I would like to thank them all. They cheered every time a run was made or a wicket was taken.
First, the people in charge of the game get their trophies. Travis Head gets his thing to remember. Now it’s time for the Indians to get their awards for coming in second.
Pat Cummins, the captain of the winning team, said, “We made the best of it” (they lost the toss). We were going to bowl for sure. After a scary morning, the way Travis and Smithy worked together made us feel better.
Most Valuable Player Travis Head said, “It’s been two years of hard work.” It’s been pleasant. This has been the plan for two years—a good plan right off the bat. I’ve been saying all week that I want to be able to take charge. I was put to the test the whole time. It was nice to spend some time out there with Smudge.
Amazing week. It’s what we’ve come to expect from him here in England: an amazing test. I hope he has a big two or three months. And I’ve always said that it seems like all the plans are made for him and that he gets all the attention, while I can just work. It was nice to hang out with him. I’ve always been sure of myself. It’s about putting yourself out there and letting that show.
It took me a while, and that’s something everyone goes through. I’ve always been willing to learn and change. I have a rough plan for how to do things. It might not always work. It’s nice to figure that out in such a big game, and I hope it keeps going for the next few months. Last night, I had a lot of what-ifs as I went to bed. There have been times in the past two years when we’ve had to push through. Today, we were able to do that again.
India
