Geoff Lemon on Steve Smith.
That’s it from me, but Simon Burnton’s match report is here for your entertainment. Thanks for your company and emails – goodnight.
Scott Boland (11-4-29-1) speaks
I’ve been pretty nervous the last couple of days but it was nice to get into the game today. He’s a very good player [Shubman Gill], so it was nice to knock him over early. We’re in a really good spot now; hopefully we can take a few wickets in the morning. The pitch is going a little bit up and down, so hopefully it gets harder for India to bat tomorrow.
That was a superb day for Australia, who are in control of this Test Championship final. Steve Smith made his 31st Test century in the morning before Travis Head was out for 163, the first of seven wickets to fall for 108. That slight collapse worked out okay for Australia because it kept the game moving and allowed them a good crack at India either side of tea.
All the bowlers chipped in to reduce India to 149 for five, with Scott Boland the pick of the attack. India were in even more trouble at 71 for four before a defiant counterattack from Ravindra Jadeja. Nathan Lyon got him just before the close to reaffirm Australia’s dominance. It’s hard to see how India can get out of this, although we’ve said that a few times before.
Stumps: Australia lead by 318 runs
38th over: India 151-5 (Rahane 29, Bharat 5)
Bharat is beaten by a wide delivery from Starc that keeps very low, then offers no stroke to a ball that lifts sharply to crack him just above the elbow. With every passing over, India’s decision to insert Australia looks more costly.
Another visit from the physio ensures Starc’s over is the last of the second day, although there is still time for Bharat to fresh-air a very windy drive.
This will be the last over, in fact, because Bharat needs treatment after that blow from Boland.
37th over: India 147-5 (Rahane 29, Bharat 3) With the left-hander gone and Bharat newly at the crease, Scott Boland replaces Nathan Lyon (2-0-4-1). Rahane takes a single off the third ball, Bharat does likewise off the last, albeit after a painful blow on the glove.
We should have time for two more overs.
“You may, or may not, want to post this rather startling advert,” says Romeo. “He’s bigger than me.”
This keeps appearing in the background during liveblogs. It seems to have had a subliminal effect: I ordered 12 Revitives from Argos in my sleep the other night and I still don’t know what it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XwQmzbwDxo
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36th over: India 145-5 (Rahane 28, Bharat 2) Bharat squeezes Starc through the covers for two to get off the mark. Starc has gone at more than a run a ball (8-0-50-1), but he did take the key wicket of Virat Kohli with a cracking delivery.
“The dismissal of Jadeja is not just a disaster for India’s fading hopes but also a hammer-blow for cricket lovers who revel in his bat-twirling celebrations when he reaches fifty,” says Colum Fordham. “Sad end to a gutsy innings.”
We’ll always have, well, the last nine years. And probably the next four or five.
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35th over: India 142-5 (Rahane 26, Bharat 0) Srikar Bharat is the new batter. That was Lyon’s 483rd Test wicket; you’d expect him to join the big club this summer.
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WICKET! India 142-5 (Jadeja c Smith b Lyon 48)
Lyon strikes in his second over! This is such a vital wicket for Australia, because Jadeja was counterpunching superbly.
It was a nice bit of deception from Lyon. Jadeja felt with hard hands for a dipping delivery that started wide and turned wider; it took the edge and Steve Smith did the rest at slip.
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34th over: India 141-4 (Rahane 26, Jadeja 48) Mitchell Starc is going to have a burst before the close. Jadeja, who has played him very well today, steers a clever boundary past gully to move into the forties.
He gets another two balls later with a thick edge that lands just short of Green at fourth slip and scuttles away to the fence. An expensive over, 13 from it.
33rd over: India 128-4 (Rahane 25, Jadeja 36) It’s finally time for the offspinner Nathan Lyon. As Ricky Ponting says on commentary, his mastery of overspin means he should get plenty of bounce on this pitch.
An exploratory fisrt over yields three singles. India still trail by 341 runs, but this has been a good fightback.
32nd over: India 125-4 (Rahane 23, Jadeja 35) A big off-cutter from Boland dupes Rahane and hits him high on the pad. It was going over but that was lovely bowling. Boland has unquestionably been Australia’s best bowler today: figures of 10-4-27-1 don’t flatter him.
Later in the over, Rahane turns a single to leg to bring up an important fifty partnership with Jadeja, and then Jadeja ends his mini-drought with an efficient cover drive for four. He is such a champion.
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31st over: India 120-4 (Rahane 22, Jadeja 31) A delivery from Green to Jadeja bounces grotesquely and flies over the leaping Carey for four byes. That was a bit Edgbaston 95, though at least it wasn’t the first ball of the match.
Another maiden from Green. Australia have done well to slow Jadeja’s counter-attack; since hitting that six off Boland he has gone 11 deliveries without scoring.
30th over: India 116-4 (Rahane 22, Jadeja 31) Boland errs slightly in length, which allows Rahane to time a cover drive for four. This is the bit where we remind you that Rahane has been India’s overseas specialist in the past decade, with eight of his 12 Test centuries coming abroad.
“I’m trying to fool myself into believing this game is irrelevant for the Ashes,” weeps Sam Jeffers. “It’s giving a false impression of what the Aussies can do.
“a) The pitch is WAY too green. There’s no way we’re giving their bowlers one of these in the next few weeks. We are giving them absolute roads.
“b) India aren’t that good. They’re missing Pant and Bumrah, and England handled them fairly well last summer in the leftover test with a team weaker than the one they’ll put out next week.
“It’s going to be fine. England 480-3 after the first day at Edgbaston. No nerves at all. None.”
29th over: India 112-4 (Rahane 18, Jadeja 31) Rahane scores his first run in 24 deliveries, and his first since he was LBW to a Cummins no-ball. It was the next ball, which trapped his bottom hand against the bat handle, that has led to a more cautious approach.
28.1 overs: India 111-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 31) A bumper from Green hits the helmet of Rahane, who was trying to hook, and ends in the hands of third slip. Australia discuss a review, thinking there might have been some glove, before deciding against it.
The blow to the side of the helmet means a concussion check for Rahane, who has been in the wars this evening.
28th over: India 111-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 31) That’s an outrageous shot from Jadeja, who flicks Boland extravagantly over square leg for six. Boland responds majestically, beating the outside edge and then having two strangled shouts for LBW.
27th over: India 105-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 25) Jadeja thumps another off-drive for four, this time off Green. Just under an hour until the close; Australia would love a couple more wickets to help them sleep tonight.
“Really hoping that India can hold on here and avoid a follow-on,” says Rob Durbin, “not just to grind the Australian bowlers into the ground because of a more superficial reason. I have a corporate hospitality invite for Saturday and would really like to see some cricket and enjoy some free food and drink at the same time!”
Don’t worry. Even if they have the chance, there is precisely 0.00 per cent of Australia enforcing the follow-on.
26th over: India 100-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 20) Boland for Cummins, and hits the dinner plate outside off stump immediately. A maiden to Rahane.
25th over: India 100-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 20) Cameron Green returns after the drinks break in place of Mitchell Starc, whose figures of 6-0-34-1 are about right – but only if you recognise the manner and importance of the bit in the last column.
An unpleasant lifter is left by Jadeja, who then steals a second run to bring up the hundred. As ever, he’s bristling with intent. He’s such a winner, and he’s come an extremely long way since that match-losing cameo against England in the 2009 World T20.
Meanwhile, how did I miss this? It looks like a great read.
24th over: India 98-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 18) “As an England supporter, I’ve been willing Australia on to score as many big runs and take as many wickets as possible,” writes Tom Van der Gucht. “Not because I want them to win, but because I’ve got a weirdly spiritual view on players’ purple patches. Rather than the Aussies playing themselves in for the Ashes, I feel that they’re spending the runs they have in the bank and, once they’ve gone, they’ll be bankrupt and due a run of low scores. The more the Aussies grind out now, the less they’ll have left for the next series... Physically, mentally and spiritually.”
An admirable viewpoint, although I suspect Steve Smith subscribes to that chilling Don Bradman line: “I don’t believe in the law of averages”.
23rd over: India 97-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 18) When play resumes, Jadeja belts Starc’s first ball through mid-on for four. That takes him to 12, and he avoids the danger zone of 13-15 by clipping another boundary behind square on the leg side. This is a purposeful counter-attack from Jadeja, who has 17 from 20 balls.
“This is looking ominous for India… and England,” says Adam Hirst. “I can’t see our bowlers bowling them all out twice/cheaply, and it is getting difficult to see our batters keeping them out. Optimism sinking slowly.”
And now the Ashes summer has begun.
Updated
Rahane is still being treated. It was a very nasty blow, and he’s waiting for somebody to run some new gloves onto the field.
Replays confirm that Rahane would have been out but for the no-ball. It was a beautiful delivery which straightened to beat Rahane’s defensive stroke and hit the pad in front of off stump.
22nd over: India 88-4 (Rahane 17, Jadeja 8) That was Cummins’ fourth no-ball in eight overs today, and I was just about to type that he was straining for rhythm. He responds with an angry lifter that thumps Rahane painfully on the bottom hand; there’s a break in play while Rahane receives treatment.
“I think we need to be careful about results ‘galvanising fans/viewers’ (infers for commercial interests),” writes Nick Jones. “Ditto Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus winning a league or cup.
“Owners and broadcaster want big commercial teams to win title for big commercial reasons. This is a problematic dance. A viewer, a fan should demand competition and accept the result - be it unpopular.”
Rahane is LBW off a Cummins no-ball!
Well, well. Rahane, on 17, was trapped in front by a jaffa from Cummins, and reviewed the decision probably more in hope than expectation. Maybe he thought he was outside the line? It didn’t come to that, because replays showed Cummins – who has had no-ball problems today – had just overstepped.
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21st over: India 83-4 (Rahane 13, Jadeja 8) Jadeja punches Starc through mid-on for four, a statement of intent to counterattack, then survives a hopeful LBW appeal. It was missing leg.
India are going at four an over despite the loss of those early wickets.
“Jagger will be 80 in 48 days’ time,” says Romeo, an observation that isn’t as random as it might sound: a couple of overs ago, the camera cut to the big man enjoying the cricket at the Oval.
20th over: India 79-4 (Rahane 13, Jadeja 4) India’s top four all scored between 13 and 15, which has never happened before in a Test match. Three of the top four have scored 13-15 on a few occasions, including Lord’s last year and Trent Bridge 2001.
Cummins has a big LBW shout against Jadeja turned down by Richard Illingworth. It was very straight but probably pitched just outside leg, and Cummins talks his team out of talking him into a review.
19th over: India 72-4 (Rahane 12, Jadeja 1) That’s the beauty of Mitchell Starc. No matter how he’s bowling – and he hasn’t been great today – he always has the capacity to produce an absolute jaffa.
We’ve just seen a replay of the Kohli dismissal. The ball actually hit the thumb on Kohli’s right hand, not the glove or the splice. It was also a really sharp catch from Steve Smith.
Starc almost makes it two in four balls when Ravindra Jadeja, trying to flick an outswinger to leg, gets a leading edge over point.
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WICKET! India 71-4 (Kohli c Smith b Starc 14)
Gottim! Kohli has fallen to a beauty from Mitchell Starc! It burst from a length to hit the splice, or maybe the glove, and Steve Smith took an excellent leaping catch at second slip. Kohli looks ruefully at the pitch before walking off; I’m not sure there was much he could do about that.
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18th over: India 71-3 (Kohli 14, Rahane 12) Cummins’ first delivery with the replacement ball is a loosener that Rahane pulls over square leg for four. His second is a beast, which jags back to cut Rahane in half.
17.2 overs: India 67-3 (Kohli 14, Rahane 8) Cummins has switched ends to replace Green. The ball needs to be changed, which means a slight delay. Make a cup of tea, put a record on: now’s a good time.
17th over: India 67-3 (Kohli 14, Rahane 8) Starc replaces Boland, who helped put Australia on top with a fine spell of 6-3-12-1. Kohli drives his second ball through extra cover for four, a classic stroke that takes him into double figures. Maybe that 186 in Ahmedabad in March has relaxed him; he’s certainly looking in great touch.
16th over: India 61-3 (Kohli 9, Rahane 7) A couple of singles take Kohli to nine from 26 balls. He’s in this for the long haul, or at least he intends to be.
“What’s missing from those Warne clips is the set-up,” says Richard O’Hagan. “ It’s like watching that Morecambe & Wise sketch with Andre Previn but only looking at the bit with the piano. You need to see the build up to it and the way the whole thing is put together.
“I don’t recall either the Hollioake or Maynard dismissals that clearly (because in those days I couldn’t watch television in the office) but I know there would have been a number of big spinning leg breaks in the balls before to convince the hapless batter that this one was going to be just the same. I particularly love the Hollioake one because Warne’s somehow got him to leave a ball that pitches in line with the stumps - but you need to see how he did it.”
That’s a fair point. He was probably the greatest rogue psychologist I’ve seen in any sport. And he was particularly brilliant at hoodwinking inexperienced players: from memory that was Maynard’s fourth Test and Hollioake’s second. See also Ian Bell at Lord’s in 2005.
CLASSIC GOLD!
— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) June 20, 2020
Ashes 2005.....
Shane Warne setting up Ian Bell at Lord's...
Masterclass....
Man I wish I could upload longer videos, this 2 min 20 limit really sucks 🙁 pic.twitter.com/I5QOHzVdjx
15th over: India 55-3 (Kohli 7, Rahane 4) India’s top three all got into double figures, which will frustrate them even more. Though Australia have bowled very well, all three dismissals were avoidable: Rohit missed a straight one, Gill and Pujara left straight ones.
Rahane gets off the mark from his second ball, deliberately uppercutting Boland over the cordon.
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14th over: India 50-3 (Kohli 6, Rahane 0) Ajinyka Rahane is the new batter.
“Rob, I’m torn here between wanting India to win as due recognition for Virat Kohli’s indelible role in giving Test cricket importance in India, especially overseas performances,” begins Shankar Mony. “But at the same time, I don’t want the BCCI to think that playing two months (or more! eeks) of IPL is good prep for a Test. What to do? Perhaps a dull boring tie?”
I don’t think the Australian seamers got the memo.
WICKET! India 50-3 (Pujara b Green 14)
Cheteshwar Pujara has died by the leave. It was a very similar dismissal to Shubman Gill’s, with Pujara shouldering arms to a ball from Green that nipped back to hit the off stump. Pujara goes for 14, and India are in all sorts.
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13th over: India 49-2 (Pujara 14, Kohli 5) Pujara shapes to flap-hook a high bouncer from Boland, then thinks better of it. He’s genuinely beaten by the next delivery, a perfectly pitched legcutter. Excellent stuff from Boland, a maiden.
12th over: India 48-2 (Pujara 14, Kohli 5) Cameroon Green replaces Pat Cummins, who bowled a good opening spell of 5-2-20-1. This is Test cricket 2023: forty per cent of Cummins’ overs were maidens and he still went at four an over.
Pujara, who is looking good, gets his second boundary with a gorgeous back-foot square drive.
“Loved the Hollioake throwback (8th over)...” says James Butler. “I’m pretty sure there was an even better version of this dismissal that featured commentary (presumably on the BBC) by Richie Benaud. From memory there was a distinct Benaudesque pause before he uttered something like... ‘I think feeble might be an appropriate description’.”
I thought it might be the dismissal below, but that has Tony Lewis on commentary. I remember Richie being quite scatching when Chris Lewis – on a pair, with a game to save – was stumped on the stroke of lunch at Lord’s in 1993. But that was a stumping rather than a leave.
11th over: India 42-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 4) Boland starts the evening session with a widish lifter that surprises Pujara, who recoils as if confronted by a pair of malodorous socks. Later in the over he receives something more fragrant, a half-volley that is flipped through midwicket for four. This already has the feel of a fascinating arm-wrestle between Pujara and Boland.
“That Jack Hobbs record for ‘most centuries scored in Australia’ is remarkable both in itself but also because he played in an era when it took three weeks to get there - and he suffered from terrible sea sickness,” says Richard Morris. “Makes everyone else on that list look like Johnny come latelys who had it all a bit too easy.
“Hmm. This email has turned into an accidental homage to the four Yorkshiremen sketch.”
Welcome home.
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The players are back out on the field, and Pat Cummins and Scott Boland are about to resume their interrogation.
“I hope you are not as hungover as I am after last night’s wonderful Prague events (Some sort of football match......),” writes Rob Lewis, mistaking me for somebody who would write a cricket liveblog for a national newspaper while in a state of disrep- ah fair enough. “A shout-out please to my friend - since 1964 - Alan Thompson, who is at the Oval. He promised me he is not rooting for either side, which as a pleasant Brentford supporter is exactly the right tone. I wonder which side the England neutrals are backing?”
The associates?
Talking of which, I still can’t get my head round the fact this was made in 1979. It’s like finding out somebody was playing T20 cricket in the late 1970s. Evening Viv.
The future of Test cricket
“An India win would galvanise their fans/viewers, and that’s important, but the most valuable move to ensure Test cricket flourishes is to let more teams play it, and that can only be done by funding associates much better,” writes Romeo.
”I believe, contrary to some narratives, that associate countries would absolutely love to play Test matches but they just can’t afford to stage them; even Ireland can’t - it’s said a Test at Malahide costs $1m, or £1m or €1m or whatever to put on.
”There are a few stars from associates who want to play franchise cricket because they can make Loads of Money but those countries have others players who would love to play Test cricket.
”The way to approach this is to turn the proposed distribution of ICC revenues upside down, so associates get the 38 per cent, not India. India have enough money already, and the same goes for England and Australia. Extend Test status widely, set up an informal Division Two of Test countries (some, like South Africa, choose which division to join, perhaps) and if national boards don’t risk bankruptcy they’ll play Tests.
”I believe there are very, very few cricketers who have never wanted to play a Test match. This won’t happen, of course, because the ICC board has only three associate country representatives out of 18, while there are 96 associates and 12 full members.”
”There’s your problem. It’s the ICC, the most opaque organisation in cricket. You can’t even access playing regulations if you aren’t an accredited journalist.”
I agree with pretty much every word. Sadly I think the most important phrase in the whole thing is ‘This won’t happen, of course’.
The ‘of course’ is especially miserable, and not only because Richie Benaud said we should never use that phrase. We all know sport’s greed has become irreversible.
Teatime reading
Tea
10th over: India 37-2 (Pujara 3, Kohli 4) Cummins ends the session with a maiden to Kohli, who had no interest in trying anything funky. His first job was to get to tea, and how he and Pujara will hope to bat India back into the game in an extended evening session.
The afternoon was a triumph for Australia. Their tail fell away, but that just moved the game along. More importantly, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland picked up the openers with the new ball. India will resume on 37 for two, still 432 runs behind. See you in 20 minutes.
9th over: India 37-2 (Pujara 3, Kohli 4) Pujara edges Boland short of the slips, a good advert for having Fairy Liquiad hands. Boland is making the batters play at almost every delivery, or at least making them think they need to play. That wicket of Gill takes his fledgling Test record to 29 wickets at an average of 12.96.
When Boland goes a touch too straight, Pujara turns him through midwicket for a couple.
“Afternoon, Uncle Rob,” says Richard O’Hagan, casually dropping a familial bomb on me mid-Test match. “If India lose another WTC due to having played nothing but T20 for the two months beforehand, how long do you think it will take the BCCI to start demanding that the final is played before the IPL starts so that they have a better chance of winning?”
Wouldn’t that just mean it’s played straight after another franchise league?
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8th over: India 35-2 (Pujara 1, Kohli 4) Australia are all over India here. Kohli, trying to leave a ball from Cummins, inside-edges it past leg stump for four to get off the mark.
“Not sure I’ve see a worse leave,” says Robert Speed. “Middle and off!”
I can think of one or two from the golden age of Ashes cricket. (I know it’s different with spin bowlers.)
7th over: India 30-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 0) Scott Boland’s figures: 2-2-0-1. It was a dodgy leave from Gill, it’s true, but it really was terrific bowling. That relentless line and length, allied to the seam movement, would do your head in as a batter.
“It’s just struck me forcibly that I have no idea what is going to happen in this match,” writes Robert Wilson. “Several decades of watching this stuff is no help at all. We tend to neglect the joys of uncertainty (especially after we got our botties smack in the Eng v Ire match). Everything up for grabs. Only Test cricket does that so consistently (80s Windies and 90s Aussies notwithstanding). It’s an absolute delight. Like someone tripping over an unpublished Tolstoy joke-book or a forgotten Van Gogh watercolour of a basket of kittens.”
I love the analogy, but what does that make, say, this game from 1992-93? Like finding a lost sequel to Plan 9 From Outer Space?
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WICKET! India 30-2 (Gill b Boland 13)
Done him! That is splendid bowling from Scott Boland. Gill offered no stroke to a delivery that landed in exactly the same spot as all the others that he had safely left – except this one jagged back to hit the top of off stump. In fact, it came back so far that it hit a bit of middle as well. That’s a huge wicket for Australia, and an ominous moment for both India and England. All those scare stories about Scott Boland in English conditions may be coming to pass.
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6th over: India 30-1 (Gill 13, Pujara 0) The new batter is Cheteshwar Pujara, the quiet hero of India’s famous victory in Australia in 2018-19. He’s already scored three centuries for Sussex this season.
“Who,” begins Leo in Sydney, “chooses the type of wicket in a neutral game?”
I assume it’s up to the ICC, same as during a World Cup.
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WICKET! India 30-1 (Rohit LBW b Cummins 15)
Cummins digs one in to Gill, who cuffs it disdainfully over mid-on for four. Not many people plonk Cummins to long-on like that.
Plenty of people get out LBW to him though, and Rohit Sharma has just joined the list! He played around a full, straight delivery that thudded impatiently into the front pad. Rohit discussed a review with Gill, who politely disabused him of the notion. That was plumb.
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5th over: India 23-0 (Rohit 15, Gill 6) An early bowling change, with Scott Boland on for Mitchell Starc (2-0-14-0). All logic suggests Boland will bowl beautifully in England, though these aren’t typical English conditions. He hits a length straight away, and Rohit is beaten when he carves outside off stump at the last delivery of the over. A maiden.
4th over: India 23-0 (Rohit 15, Gill 6) Gill is surprised by a bit of extra bounce from Cummins, though he’s still gets on top of his defensive stroke. Just a leg-bye from a good over.
3rd over: India 22-0 (Rohit 15, Gill 6) Rohit pulls Starc towards deep backward square for a couple. He has taken on the short ball two or three times in this innings already.
Starc beats Rohit with a good one, but then slips in a wide yorker that is squeezed through the cordon for four. India are off to a flyer.
2nd over: India 13-0 (Rohit 6, Gill 6) Shubman Gill has a modest Test record – 15 Tests, average 34 – but he was in astonishing form in the recent IPL. He gets off the mark with the most beautiful extra cover drive for four off Pat Cummins.
It’s a no-ball, too, and Gill squirts the extra delivery through the cordon for a couple more.
1st over: India 5-0 (Sharma 5, Gill 0) Rohit gets off the mark second ball with the smoothest of swivel-pulls for four. Nothing much else to report, mainly because I was busy changing the furniture on this article.
Updated
Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. The Australian players are back out on the field, and we’re about to find out what 469 is worth on this pitch. Mitchell Starc will open the bowling.
That’s enough from me, Rob Smyth will take over for the rest of the day.
Australia set 469 in the first innings
121.3 overs: Australia 469-10 (Boland 1) The not out player is Boland, who will now prepare to bowl first change. Mitchell Starc is already in the middle doing some warm-up bowling, only a minute or so after the final wicket fell. Cummins will join him shortly. It looks a substantial total given that the pitch was still offering decent bounce and carry, some erratic bounce on occasion, and it has some cracks starting to open up. Not that it’s a minefield but it’ll give good bowlers something.
Siraj finishes with 4 for 108, Shami 2 for 122, Thakur 2 for 83, and Jadeja 1 for 56. Umesh is the wicketless one, conceding 77.
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WICKET! Cummins c Rahane b Siraj 9, Australia all out 469
That’s the end of that. Cummins decides to take one on, slapping a length ball over cover, except that it doesn’t get over cover. Rahane is set quite deep and has time to get into position for the catch. The Australian captain didn’t middle one in his fairly lengthy stay, but he won’t mind much: 469 is fair old total.
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121st over: Australia 469-9 (Cummins 9, Boland 1) None Shall Pass, says Aesop Rock ft. Scott Boland, as the Victorian blunts six Jadeja deliveries without moving from the crease.
120th over: Australia 469-9 (Cummins 9, Boland 1) Off the mark immediately is Scott Boland, tucking a ball through square leg to keep strike.
WICKET! Lyon b Siraj 9, Australia 468 for 9
Siraj gets the next one. Replacing Umesh at the Pavilion End, from wide on the crease, he angles one in and gets it to move further off the seam. Lyon aims a huge drive and is beaten on the inside edge to lose off stump. That’s one ball after Siraj gave away another four byes with a short ball after Lyon missed his hook.
119th over: Australia 463-8 (Cummins 8, Lyon 9) No run from a short Jadeja over, Lyon blocking out the lot.
118th over: Australia 463-8 (Cummins 8, Lyon 9) Up on his toes, Lyon, and punching Umesh out through extra cover for four! Effective shot. Three slips waiting behind him, plenty of gaps. Cover gets plugged. Umesh strikes pad but it’s going down leg. Lyon places a two and a one either side of the wicket. He’s already outscored Cummins.
117th over: Australia 456-8 (Cummins 8, Lyon 2) With that very open stance of his, Lyon tries to wrist Jadeja through the packed leg side field for one. Can’t do it. Pushes to point instead and gets off strike. Cummins has a deep cover point, long off, long on and deep backward square for any big shots, but deep midwicket is open. He simply defends a couple with a straight bat.
116th over: Australia 455-8 (Cummins 8, Lyon 1) Not sure you’ll see this batting pair hang around long. A couple of singles, Umesh still smashing that length. Then Cummins tries to swing one over the leg side, not short enough and he gets little of it. Rohit sends a deep square leg out. Umesh goes headhunting, but too high and Cummins goes down the elevator shaft easily.
115th over: Australia 453-8 (Cummins 7, Lyon 0) Spinner versus spinner, Jadeja to Nathan Lyon, who blocks the last two of the over.
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WICKET! Carey lbw Jadeja 48, Australia 453 for 8
Jadeja comes on for a whirl, left-arm spin. Around the wicket to both the right-handed Cummins adn the left-handed Carey. Cummins is off strike immediately, a simple straight punch. Carey misses his first ball, past the outside edge, and after it hits the keeper he picks it up and hands it back. Can’t be doing that, Alex. India don’t appeal but they have the right to.
Next ball, Carey launches it for six! Over wide long on, gets up and under it.
And the next he goes down for a reverse sweep, plays over the top of it, and is hit on the back thigh. Fair enough that the standing umpire says not out: Carey might have gloved it, he’s got a big stride forward, and it’s not clear where it hit him. But India review, and the slow-mo shows it hitting him on the inside of the back thigh, down low, and no contact from bat or glove.
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114th over: Australia 446-7 (Carey 42, Cummins 6) Down crouches Cummins, and blocks out an Umesh yorker. Off strike next ball with an edge past the stumps. Wonder if that was another low bounce one. Umesh spins at the top of his mark, gets onto Carey’s pads, and some good T20 running sees Carey back for two as fine leg has to move inward and around to the ball placed squarer. Last ball of the over he is beaten again. Umesh is a new bowler today, and hasn’t had any luck.
113th over: Australia 443-7 (Carey 40, Cummins 5) Shami from the Vauxhall End, tight on Carey’s off stump as well. The view from here is right behind Shami’s arm when he bowls around the wicket. Carey glides, and places it fine enough to beat the deep backward point for four. Loves that shot. The next ball cuts back, nearly through him, into the thigh pad and could so easily have spun back onto the stumps. It misses, and Carey follows it with another boundary, picking off the attempted yorker that is a tad underpitched, sending it away behind square leg. Lovely timing.
This is now a very useful score from Carey. And he garnishes it with four more, another flick of a full and straight ball, this time well in front of square to the other side of the futile sweeper.
112th over: Australia 431-7 (Carey 28, Cummins 5) Wonder if there was a decision made at lunch to go hard from here? Carey again thrashes at a couple and misses. Umesh is bowling much better than yesterday, a nice line tight to the stumps and a tough length, with good pace rushing through the shot as well. Sprints up with the pavilion at his back and lets the ball go, Carey dashes a single, Cummins watches one zip by his off stump.
111th over: Australia 430-7 (Carey 27, Cummins 5) Very nice shot from Cummins facing Shami, placing the flick through midwicket and coming back for three. The left-handed Carey plays a similar shot and hits it more sweetly for four.
110th over: Australia 422-7 (Carey 22, Cummins 2) Umesh Yadav to resume after lunch, and Carey starts in dicey fashion. Throws the bat a couple of times and makes no contact. One ball keeps low in there, too. The inconsistent bounce will interest Starc and Cummins greatly.
Here’s something for your lunchtime pondering. Steve Smith moved up a spot on another record list by making his 7th Test century in England. That’s the equal second most for a visiting player, behind Guess Who.
It made me wonder which visiting players have the most in the other Test countries, so here are the answers. This list refers to hundreds in that country, not against that country.
England
Big Don Bradman 11
Steve Smith, Steve Waugh 7
Australia
Jack Hobbs 9
Wally Hammond 7
Virat Kohli, Herbert Sutcliffe, Sachin Tendulkar 6
West Indies
Sunil Gavaskar 7
Ricky Ponting 5
India
Alastair Cook 5
Hashim Amla, Clive Lloyd, Everton Weekes 4
South Africa
Tendulkar 5
Hammond, Neil Harvey 4
Sri Lanka
Tendulkar 5
Bangladesh
Tendulkar 5
Pakistan
Mohinder Armanath, Aravinda da Silva 4
Zimbabwe
Kallis, Marvan Atapattu 3
New Zealand
Kallis, Weekes, Greg Chappell, Asanka Gurusinha, Desmond Haynes, Javed Miandad, Kumar Sangakkara, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe 3
Lunch - Australia 422 for 7
Substantial progress for India in that session – they got through Head and Smith without either overnight not out player adding a huge amount of damage, and they took out Green and Starc as well. But Australia’s initial foundation meant everyone was able to score at a decent rate, adding 95 runs for the session. Australia’s total is likely already be too many for India – though of course India might also come out and make 600.
Three wickets in hand when Australia resume.
109th over: Australia 422-7 (Carey 22, Cummins 2) Some weird decisions from Rohit – bowling Umesh for one over before drinks wasn’t quite as odd, but asking Shami to warm up for one over before lunch seems like it’s not in your bowler’s best interests. Any rate. He bowls a no-ball and concedes a single to Carey, and that is sandwich time.
108th over: Australia 420-7 (Carey 21, Cummins 2) Siraj is planning his bouncer attack. Three in the deep on the leg side. Deep third, set quite fine. And Siraj goes with the bluff, trying the yorker, but misses his length and bowls it a touch wide. Carey is already backing away, and is able to deflect it behind point point for four. Then gets a short ball that he can bunt away to leg while mid hop, another run to the total. Two slips for Cummins, with a short leg as well… and Siraj bowls a horrible bouncer, way down leg, over the batter and past the keeper for four more extras. There’s 420 for Australia, blaze up.
107th over: Australia 410-7 (Carey 16, Cummins 2) Driving out to deep cover is Carey. He hasn’t tried anything adventurous so far. Not long until the lunch break now, probably the plan is simply to bat India as deeply into the fifth session as possible. Cummins gets his first runs, placing Thakur through midwicket for two.
106th over: Australia 407-7 (Carey 15, Cummins 0) Siraj short to Carey, who plays a nice hook shot but only gets one run with deep square leg back. Siraj stays short to Cummins who evades comfortably enough.
105th over: Australia 406-7 (Carey 14, Cummins 0) Another sniff of a run out as Cummins turns a ball to midwicket and both batters set off, stutter, and go back as the throw comes in. Shardul bumps Cummins, perhaps getting in before Cummins can do the same, hitting him on the arm. Then strays down leg, allowing Cummins to add four to the team’s score off his thigh pad. Technically though it’s still a maiden over.
104th over: Australia 402-7 (Carey 14, Cummins 0) The captain joins his wicketkeeper in the middle. Carey on strike defends to end the over.
WICKET! Starc run out Axar Patel 5, Australia 402-7
There’s one! Starc’s call, Starc’s error. He drives straight, not forcefully back past the bowler. Sees mid on moving to his left, knows he’ll have to field left-handed. So Starc takes on the run. The only problem is that it’s the sub fielder, Axar Patel, and he’s left-handed. So Axar picks up cleanly and throws down the stumps on the bounce, across his body. Good fielding. Carey honoured the call because he had his back to the ball and was running to the safer end. Fair enough. Starc goes, a metre short.
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103rd over: Australia 400-6 (Carey 13, Starc 4) There’s the 400 for Australia, with a couple of singles from Thakur’s bowling. More wickets needed urgently for India, it looks like there’s still enough in this surface to give Australia’s bowlers a chance.
102nd over: Australia 398-6 (Carey 12, Starc 3) The ball is still doing a bit! Umesh gets one to swerve through the air, beating the keeper down the leg side to the fence. Whoops. Starc drives a couple of runs through cover.
101st over: Australia 391-6 (Carey 11, Starc 1) Similar pattern, Carey steers a single second ball of the over and leaves the business end to Starc. The tall bowler opens his account with a run to midwicket nudged off his pad. Carey adds another. They draw Australia closer to 400.
100th over: Australia 388-6 (Carey 9, Starc 0) Happy to take a single is Carey, turned to midwicket. Starc leaves one, wafts at another. Umesh got Starc out in his reversing spell of 3 for 12 in the first innings at Indore a couple of months ago, a performance that kept India in the game for a while after having been bowled out for 109. Starc survives this time.
99th over: Australia 387-6 (Carey 8, Starc 0) With that wicket under his belt, Shardul Thakur is suddenly into his stride. Bowls a good tight line at the body of the left-handed Starc, a bit of movement through the air even when the length isn’t full. We’ve seen some fine spells from him over the past couple of years. Bowls a straightening line across Starc to follow that nearly draws a nick behind.
India have clawed back into the contest in this session, they can’t afford to let the lower order get Australia up around 450 though.
WICKET! Smith b Thakur 121, Australia 387 for 6
That’s the one! The Oval erupts as Smith’s stumps light up. Shardul Thakur on for a trundle, and that must be close to the most harmless ball that has ever got Smith out. A warm-up ball, well outside the off stump, and for some reason Smith leaves his bat hanging out there, well away from his body. It takes the inside edge, and he doesn’t get the lucky runs that Carey enjoyed in the previous over. He just gets dismissed.
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98th over: Australia 387-5 (Smith 121, Carey 8) Streaky from Carey, chops a shot off the inside edge past his stumps for four. Umesh’s fruitless bowling innings continues.
97th over: Australia 382-5 (Smith 120, Carey 4) Off the mark with a boundary is Carey, opening the face and steering behind point. Shami is bowling around the wicket to him, two slips and a gully in place. Smashes him on the pad last ball of the over, going down the leg side I fancy. Control+C, Control+V, another big appeal from a backward-running Shami, and this time Rohit shapes to request the review… and doesn’t. Pulls his arms away from the T sign and walks straight to their drinks break huddle.
96th over: Australia 378-5 (Smith 120, Carey 0) Umesh Yadav on to bowl one over before drinks. Better than his start yesterday, it only yields a dashed single for Smith and a leg bye from Carey.
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95th over: Australia 376-5 (Smith 119, Carey 0) Shami to the left-handed Carey, working in the channel outside off stump immediately. Smashed on the pad last ball of the over, but high, maybe some bat in there? Hard to tell, it bounced up towards point a long way.
WICKET! Green c Gill b Shami 6, Australia 376 for 5
There’s one for India! Green looked good for a minute but he aims a hard-handed drive at a ball that’s not full enough for it. Looking to force that more than drive it, not fully forward. Shami gets enough from the pitch to take the edge and it flies to first slip, nearly taking Gill with it to the boundary. He manages to cling on while he falls.
94th over: Australia 368-4 (Smith 119, Green 6) Siraj will be frustrated. Draws an edge from Smith, but it’s thick and low, flying square through the finer part of the gully area for four. Siraj follows up by revisiting his early sins, full on the pads and Smith clips him for another boundary.
93rd over: Australia 368-4 (Smith 111, Green 6) So Travis Head’s career batting average is up to 47.62. The partnership was 285, which is 29th on Australia’s all-time partnership list.
92nd over: Australia 367-4 (Smith 110, Green 6) Cameron Green to the middle for his first hit in England, and he smokes his first ball for four! Width, enough to smash a square drive behind point. Then takes two more through square. Comfortable start. Another bouncer goes way over the batter’s head, again waved through by the umpire.
WICKET! Head c Bharat b Siraj 163, Australia 361-4
There it is! Relief for India. Head isn’t really a bunker-down-and-go-again kind of player, so he keeps throwing the bat at everything. This time it’s a ball down the leg side as he’s stepping across to off. Middling length, about hip high. Gets a glove on it to the keeper.
Cricket - ICC World Test Championship Final - Australia v India - The Oval, London, Britain - June 8, 2023 India's Mohammed Siraj celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Travis Head Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
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91st over: Australia 361-3 (Smith 110, Head 163) Shami tries the short ball from the far end, and Head whacks that for four. Then another pull to fine leg for a single. Pitches up at the end of the over and Smith drives that through cover for four! Hasn’t played much on the off side in this innings but he gets the width there to open his hands.
90th over: Australia 351-3 (Smith 106, Head 158) Suddenly some life from Siraj! Gets his length right with the short ball, savagely rising at head who fends it away desperately and gets lucky as it lands safely behind point. Two balls later, he miscues a pull shot into the leg side, landing in a gap between a couple of fielders. The ball in between those two, though, he pulls for four. Classic Travis Head sequence there.
89th over: Australia 345-3 (Smith 105, Head 153) The first boundary of the day for Head, leaning back and placing his cut shot behind point from Shami. He gives a modest wave and nothing more for the applause greeting his 150 – quite right, Travis, it is a nonsense milestone. Get a double ton and salute that. He tries a similar shot next ball and gets one more run. Smith glances another.
88th over: Australia 338-3 (Smith 104, Head 148) Siraj works away, and after that early flurry Smith goes back into his defensive mode from yesterday. The only run is a wide from a high bouncer. India’s quicks really have not got the length on this pitch, most of the short balls yesterday went sailing over. And the umpires ignored most of those yesterday, but this one is called today.
87th over: Australia 338-3 (Smith 104, Head 148) Mohammed Shami on from the Vauxhall End, and hitting a decent length. Both players bat sensibly, with a couple of singles, until Head swishes at the last ball of the over and misses.
CENTURY! Steve Smith 103 from 229 balls
86th over: Australia 336-3 (Smith 103, Head 147) Well that doesn’t take long! Travis Head rides the bounce of the first ball of the day, dropping it to the leg side for a run. Then Siraj bowls two offerings on the pads, and Smith flicks them both away through the leg side for four! He goes from 95 to 103 in the blink of an eye, and has no sooner started his day than he’s lifting his arms to the crowd in salute, kissing the badge and all that stuff, celebrating Test century #31 in his personal collection. That’s one every 3.12 matches across his career.
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The players are in the middle, we are ready to go.
Lovely day here at The Oval, the forecast was spot on so far. Not a cloud visible about quarter of an hour before play. Pleasant sunshine but not hot.
If you want to come down there might be seats available in the Pavilion. They only got around to releasing those publicly a few days ago, given the Surrey members hadn’t shown much interest. So it was largely empty in that one stand yesterday.
This being the ICC + cricket in England, those tickets are probably punishingly expensive if they are available. Let me know if you’ve been scoping it out, enquiring minds want to know.
Want to know about Travis Head reaching new heights before a lot of people have realised that he’s quite that good? I’ve got you covered.
Want a wider lens on the whole shebang, the meaning, the spectacle, the annoyed public servants? Andy Bull is your answer.
Want the details of yesterday? Have Simon Burnton’s match report.
Preamble
Gooood morning/morrow/gloaming/evensong, or whatever temporal variant applies to you. It is time for the World Test Championship final to enter its second phase, on a day that the Australians will be looking forward to rather more than what is probably a sore and irritable Indian team.
India were in the game yesterday after some fierce bowling at the start, but then Travis Head did the Travis Head trick, which is to make a million runs at a million miles an hour. He’s resuming on 156 not out, Steve Smith on 95 not out, and they could race up the list of Australian partnerships with 251 already between them.
Commentary statement of the obvious: India need all of the wickets in none of the time, and it’s supposed to be a sunny day in London with temperatures in the low 20s. That’s right: officially a Batting Day. Prepare yourself.
