Virat Kohli looks disappointed after falling on the second day of the WTC Final.© Twitter
India were left reeling on the second day of the World Test Championship final at The Oval in London, with Australian pacers dominating the show. The Indian top-order did not live up to its reputation as the likes of Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14) and Virat Kohli (14) failed to strike big. Virat Kohli’s innings promised to be a gritty one with wickets falling at the other end. But in the 19th over of the Indian 1st innings, Mitchell Starc produced a slanted delivery that moved from a length and as Kohli attempted to defend he edged on to the second slip, where Steve Smith took an overhead catch. That left India four-down and Kohli was dejected.
Watch: Kohli’s Face After Getting Out Says It All As Australia Dominate
At Tea, India found themselves in a difficult situation with the early loss of their openers after Australia posted a commendable 469 in their first innings of the World Test Championship final, at The Oval on Thursday. Australia added 142 runs to their overnight total with the loss of seven wickets before being bowled out one hour into the afternoon session. Mohammed Siraj cleaned up the tail and was the pick of India’s bowlers with four wickets.
India batted for 10 overs before the tea break and were dealt a twin blow as skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill fell to Pat Cummins and Scott Boland respectively. They were at 37 for two at tea with Virat Kohli (4 batting) and Cheteshwar Pujara (3 batting) in the middle, trailing Australia by 432 runs. Both Rohit (15 off 26) and Gill (13 off 15) looked in good touch before flattering to deceive. Rohit missed a ball from Cummins that was angled in before Gill inexplicably decided to leave a delivery from Boland on length only to see his stumps being uprooted in the following over.
The conditions are good for batting but India have a massive challenge at hand. After the lunch break, Alex Carey pushed Australia past 450 with a 48 off 69 balls.
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