After lunch at The Oval, the ball continued to move around, and Mohammed Shami took advantage of it by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne with a brilliant delivery off his first ball. However, this brought Travis Head to the crease, who responded with an aggressive approach, quickly scoring 30 runs at a faster rate than a run per ball.
On the other end, Steve Smith endured some discomfort as he attempted cross-batted shots against unpredictable bounce. Nevertheless, he eventually found his rhythm against Shardul Thakur, who had an expensive over, conceding two no-balls and several boundaries, shifting the momentum towards Australia despite India’s early dominance in the session.
With Shardul and Umesh Yadav struggling to find their rhythm, Indian captain Rohit Sharma introduced spin by bringing in Ravindra Jadeja. However, despite some close calls, Jadeja was unable to make the breakthrough.
Head recorded his fifth Test ton off just 106 deliveries and became the first player to smash a hundred in the WTC Final. He along with Smith played a crucial role in Australia’s recovery from the minor crisis. The duo finished Day 1 of the summit clash at scores of 146 not out and 95 not out respectively.
After the end of play, Head spoke about his unbroken 251-run with Smith and revealed how batting with the latter helps him in the middle.
“We don’t talk too much out there but I do really enjoy batting with Steve, because of how much attention he receives in terms of the bowler’s plans,” said Head, while addressing the media.
“Whenever I bat with him I always feel like I’m in the shadows, that you can sneak under the radar and go about your business because he draws so much attention.
“I felt like that again today, I knew he wasn’t going to go anywhere once he got in that rhythm.
“He loves batting over here and he’s unbelievable in these conditions. We’re completely different but the partnership works really nicely,” the centurion added.
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