Day 1 of WTC final ends with Travis Head and Steve Smith putting India on the back foot

Dominant Australia piled up 327/3 with Travis Head's unbeaten 146 in just 156 balls. At the same time, Smith was just five runs away from his century as India chose to bowl after winning the toss on the first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final in London.

Under the afternoon sun, the batting duo forced the Indian bowlers into hard work as the pitch failed to provide the expected assistance to the latter.

Out-of-place bowling

• After an eventful first session with overcast conditions and a bouncy surface, the first session saw initial breakthroughs by Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur dismissing Usman Khwaja and David Warner.
• The third wicket fell a few minutes into the second session when Mohammed Shami knocked off the stumps sending Marnus Labuschagne back to the pavillion.
• Umesh Yadav who came after an injury in the IPL did not look in rhythm and initially leaked a few runs. This tweet sums up Umesh's performance last evening.

With Umesh, you get a wicket-taking delivery and an absolutely rubbish ball in the same over. It has been like this for years. #WTC2023

— Yathartha Sharma (@shree_maan) June 7, 2023

• It was a little heartening to see runs leaking at around 4 per over at a point, and hardly any wicket-tacking opportunities were being created,

Indian strategy misfired?

• Indian skipper Rohit Sharma elected to bowl first after winning the toss, presumably keeping in mind the gloomy sky and the grassy surface. Unexpectedly, the sun came out easing the conditions too soon for the Aussie batters. Australian captain Patt Cummins too would have opted to bowl in these conditions.
• There's also quite a buzz around not playing Ravichandran Aswin in the XI, owing to the drying surface in the latter half of the match and him being the World's number 1 Test bowler. The logic kind of makes sense given the presence of a handful of left-hander batters in the Australian lineup.
• The second new ball, which was taken just 5 overs before the stumps, could have been delayed till the second day morning to fully exploit the conditions and the ball in India's favour.

Aussies in firm control

• After a cautious start, Warner 43 (60) who looked good was dismissed before lunch.
• The next two sessions belonged to Travis Head and Steve Smith as both displayed classical Test match batting with a pinch of Bazball while keeping things simple. Head is having a dream phase, isn't he? He went past Rishabh Pant to clinch the top spot for the highest strike rate (81.91) in this WTC cycle. With this, he also became the first centurion in the WTC final.

It wasn't all easy for Travis Head on his way to the first-ever World Test Championship Final century 😬

📹 Watch highlights: https://t.co/veWz53mt3R#WTC23 | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/gSziP9jUmZ

— ICC (@ICC) June 8, 2023

• Smith once again proved why Virat Kohli regards him as the best Test batter of this generation, with his sublime old-school Test innings of 95* off 227 balls.

Where does the match go from here?

• The match looks to be slipping away from India on the first day itself. But, there's hope!
• For India to stay in the game, it will need quick wickets on the second day to restrict Australia to, say 430-450.

Don't count out an early India bowling blitz on day two 👀

More 👉 https://t.co/232Jdafyr5 #WTC23 | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Oufrbn0umn

— ICC (@ICC) June 8, 2023

• As the ball gets old and the surface dries up later this afternoon, Jadeja needs to up his game along with Umesh.

When and where to watch: 03:00 PM (IST) onwards. On Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.