WTC Final: Shardul’s batting resillience and other talking points from Day 3

Australia asserted dominance in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against India at The Oval on Friday, gaining a lengthy and an almost healthy second-innings lead of 296 runs.

There was a late fightback from Shardul Thakur (51) and a patient fifty from Ajinkya Rahane (89) that helped India post 296, but a total below 350 was never going to be safe.

India will need some quick wickets early on Day 4 of the WTC Final and would hope to restrict Australia’s lead below 400.

As the WTC final enters an exciting fourth day, which could be make-or-break for India, let’s take a look at some talking points from Day three:

Effective Shardul Thakur

Ahead of the final, Shardul Thakur had said he was looking to make the opportunity count, so much so that days like these rarely happen for cricketers like him.

And by some, Shardul is nicknamed ‘Lord’ for a reason. Initially, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland troubled Rahane and Thakur with extra bounce regularly, but once they saw that off, Thakur started to bat with more freedom. So much so that, Thakur punished Cummins for two boundaries in the 68^th over, courtesy  a couple of lovely drives. The second of those brought up Thakur’s half-century in 108 balls.

For Thakur, the experience of batting in a Test match at The Oval has been something more like as if he were in an alternate universe. This was his third consecutive half-century at The Oval, equalling batting greats Don Bradman and Allan Border to have done so at the venue. Now that’s quite an exclusive list to be a part of.

With his half-century, Thakur’s run tally at The Oval improved to 168 runs from just two matches, at an average of 56.

Thakur was also effective in another way. His 51 runs were more than the combined score of India’s top three batters (42).

Jadeja makes amends for Umesh’s drop

Ravindra Jadeja is someone who is sharp while taking catches, be it at any position. And once again, the spectators at The Oval were witness to another brilliance from Jadeja on the field.

Bowling the 37^th over of the Aussie second innings, it was paramount that India get rid of the in-form Travis Head to gain at least a little bit of momentum.

Jadeja began with a tossed up delivery outside off, and Head got down on one knee for the slog sweep, and went all the way towards deep midwicket, where Umesh Yadav was stationed. Yadav, however, got only his palm onto the ball, before dropping it, thereby conceding a perfect opportunity.

However, the very next ball, Jadeja bowled a fullish outside off ball, Head got down on one leg to slam through the covers, but eventually ended up hitting back to Jadeja, the bowler himself, who caught it with ease.

The extra bounce from Jadeja cost Head, who did not time the ball well and as a result, failed to execute the shot to perfection.

Smith-Labuschagne stand

In their second innings reply, Australia lost David Warner (1) and Usman Khawaja (13) early on, to be at 24/2 at one stage.

However, centurion from the first innings Steve Smith and his partner Marnus Labuschagne were in some touch, having forged a 62-run stand for the third wicket.

Labuschagne was struggling with the bat when Smith walked out to the middle in the 15^th over, but the two then started collecting regular boundaries with ease, with Smith even getting to 12 off just seven deliveries.

By the time Smith came out to bat, it was a spread out field for the next set of Indian pacers in Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav, and this allowed Smith to collect the singles and twos with enough comfort.

The two eventually brought up the 50-run stand in 71 balls, and also helped Australia surpass the 250-run lead.

Smith looked well set for a big knock, at a decently good strike rate too. However, Jadeja delivered a ball wide of off stump, and Smith charged down the track, trying to slog over mid-on. However, Smith paid the price for his poor shot execution, eventually being caught by Shardul at cover.

Pat Cummins and that no-ball

Australia skipper Pat Cummins struggled with his line, despite taking three wickets. So much so that, he delivered six no-balls during India’s first innings.

On Thursday, Cummins had the opportunity to remove Rahane for a low score when the latter was given LBW, but the Aussie had overstepped.

And again, on Friday, Cummins got a deja-vu moment when he had seemingly dismissed Shardul Thakur in the 60^th over, courtesy an LBW. Shardul was given out, but reviewed the decision immediately. Thakur was look to flick it but missed. Coming back to the review, the TV umpire checked the front foot as is the norm during a review, and discovered that Cummins had in fact overstepped.

It was a length ball from Cummins, that nipped sharply from middle, and had Cummins not overstepped, the verdict would have remained umpire’s call, as the ball-tracking precisely displayed.

It was a lucky reprieve for Shardul, who was batting on 36 at the time, and a wicket for the Aussies would have slightly turned the favour towards them, given that India were still 10 runs short of avoiding follow-on at the time. However, India live to fight another day, for what shodauld be an intriguing day of Test cricket on Saturday.

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