London June 10 2023: The early momentum was key when Australia resumed on 123/4 on day four of the ICC World Test Championship Final, 296 ahead and four wickets down in their second dig.
Conditions are good for batting, with the sun out and south London set to bask in the warmest temperatures that the English capital has seen so far this year.
But there’s a bit in the pitch for the bowlers too, with The Oval’s surface offering a hint of movement off the seam, some uneven bounce, and a bit of turn.
And Umesh Yadav struck early to remove Marnus Labuschagne for 41.
Labuschagne and Cameron Green headed out to the middle for the restart, with Australia still have batting to work with, but a decent showing from India on day three means this match isn’t quite decided just yet.
Both first-innings centurions, Steve Smith and Travis Head, are back in the hutch, and a strong start to the day would help India prevent the fourth-innings target from getting completely out of hand.
t will already require a record fourth-innings chase at The Oval for India to win this WTC Final, but India remain confident, with Shardul Thakur saying he feels his side have it in them to chase down “450, maybe more”.
And it was Shardul and Ajinkya Rahane who turned the momentum India’s way on day three, putting on a quickfire century stand in the morning session despite being on the receiving end of a barrage from the Aussie attack, most notably captain Pat Cummins.
Rahane, playing his first Test in over a year, produced a counterattacking 89, and will be fit again to bat in the second innings despite scares of a broken finger.
And Shardul has now scored half-centuries in each of the three times he has come out to the middle in Tests at The Oval, with his 51 helping India pass a follow-on target that Australia were never likely to enforce given so much time left in the game.
With a fired-up Mohammed Siraj combining well with the metronomic Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja’s spin increasingly coming into it, there’s a chance for something special at The Oval on this sunny Saturday.
