SUMMARY: Australia’s historic first appearance in a World Test Championship final began stickily enough but turned into a wholly impressive exercise in domination. After being inserted on a difficult cool morning at The Oval with the Indian seam attack getting plenty of movement in the landmark fixture, Pat Cummins’ side had to endure a torrid opening, with Usman Khawaja dismissed for a duck, David Warner falling for 43 when he was beginning to look like his old self and Marnus Labuschagne (26) being uprooted just after lunch. But Travis Head’s brilliant counter-attacking unbeaten hundred (146no), with Steve Smith (95no) providing immaculate support, saw the Australian fans, heavily outnumbered by Indian supporters at the venerable London venue, savouring a final sun-blessed session when the pair took their unbroken partnership to 251 with India, who’d gambled on leaving out world’s No.1-ranked Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin from their attack, by now looking quite demoralised.
PLAYERS OF THE MOMENT: Travis Head has become a key middle-order gam-changer and here offered memories of another aggressive, counter-punching left-hander Adam Gilchrist, who so often altered the course of contests with his bravado innings. At No.5, he’s shaping to be a key Ashes figure.
KEY MOMENT: David Warner did well to battle through a tough opening but when he negotiated that test to crack 16 runs in a single over off Umesh Yadav, it was as if the old Warner had materialised again, the swagger of that quartet of shots surely confirming he’ll be in place as opener for the start of the Ashes despite his slightly unlucky dismissal with a faint flick off his gloves down the legside.
STATS OF THE DAY: 93.58 and 41.85 – the two strike-rates of Head and Smith could hardly have been more different, but the relative hare-and-tortoise approaches of the pair in their superb partnership chimed perfectly.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It comes with experience, trying to understand the game. I’m in a nice little period of time now, I’m in a nice period of my life off the field too and it’s all emerging into clarity and consistency.” – Head on why he’s improved so much since his last Test appearances in England.