Green “screamer” at The Oval as Australia favourites for World Crown
Day 3, World Test Championship, The Oval.
Day 3, World Test Championship, The Oval.
Australia 469 all out and 123–4
India 296 all out
Australia lead by 296 runs
For fear of burying today’s lead, you will find the match position immediately above at “Stumps” on Day 3 of a one-sided tussle to crown the Test Match cricket champions of the World. But it wasn’t always thus and so here is a “Fall of Wickets” breakdown of a sunshine filled day of absorbing cricket from the Kennington Oval, London, with India commencing Day 3 on 151–5 and trailing a dominant Australia by 318 1st innings runs:
Srikar Bharat bowled Boland (5)
After his overnight partner Ajinkya Rahane scored a single from the first ball of the day, wicket-keeper batsman Bharat played “all around” a brilliant delivery from Scott Boland that swung in through the air before jagging off the seam through Bharat’s defence and crashing into his middle stump. As comprehensive a dismissal as you could wish to see and India are still 317 runs away from Australia’s 1st innings total with only 4 wickets remaining.
LUNCH DAY 3: India 260–6 (trail by 209 runs)
Ajinkya Rahane 89 not out (from 122 balls received)
Shardul Thakur 36 not out (from 83 balls received)
From the calamity of losing a wicket to just the second ball of the day, Rahane and Thakur compiled a 108 run partnership until the Lunch Break and not without some painful reminders and cricketing “lives” for each player as they stabilised their batting ship masterfully. Rahane added 60 runs in the first two hour’s of play to his overnight not out total of 29, reaching his half century with a beautiful boundary 6 off the bowling of Aussie skipper Pat Cummins before once again being the beneficiary of a cricketing “life” from the bowling of Cummins as David Warner dropped a sharp one-handed chance at 1st Slip when he was on 72. This was Rahane’s second life in the innings hence far (on 17 and now on 72) and both times the unlucky bowler has been Pat Cummins. But that wasn’t all for the Australian captain, and a bowler who cut a frustrated figure kicking out at the wicket at the end of the morning session and far away from the serene cricketer seen eating a banana sandwich on Day 1 and watching on as his batsmen racked up a huge 1st innings total.
Cummins had a highlights filled morning to forget under a baking sun at The Oval as first he saw Shardul Thakur dropped by Usman Khawaja at 2nd Slip when on 0 before striking the bowler come emergency batsman twice in consecutive balls and twice in the exact same unprotected area of Thakur’s forearm, leaving the young Indian writhing in severe pain. The plucky 31 year old from Palghar would then receive two “lives” as first Cameron Green dropped a cricketing “dolly” at the Gully position and a catch he’d take 99 times out of a hundred with eyes closed ease, before Cummins finally had his man trapped LBW (Leg Before Wicket) for 36 on the cusp of the Lunch Break. Only he hadn’t as the Australian skipper had bowled yet another no-ball, unforgivably so, and the bowler come emergency batsman enjoyed his lunchtime sandwiches still undefeated, still not out, and presumably with yet more lives to come in the afternoon session.
“Ashes to Ashes”
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Ajinkya Rahane caught Green bowled Cummins (89)
Post Lunch Break and with only one run added to the total and the Australians brilliantly drying up the availability of runs, Rahane creamed a beautiful shot off the back foot that flew past Cameron Green in the Gully. But where earlier the young 24 year old Aussie had dropped the easiest of catches, now he caught a “Worldie” or as brilliantly described by an excitable Matthew Hayden on TV commentary, a “Screamer” as he caught the ball behind his back before hurling the ball to the sky in celebration before screaming his delight surrounded by team-mates who couldn’t quite believe their own eyes.
It was quite simply an astonishing catch and his Australian team needed it to break a stubborn partnership that had dragged India back from the brink.
10 runs later and the end of the Indian resistance signalled the end of their 1st innings.
Umesh Yadav bowled Cummins (5)
One delightful boundary 4. One beautiful delivery that crashed into the top of his middle and off stumps. It was coming! Yadav was playing with fire and overmatched before he heard the “death rattle” of his stumps flying everywhere and as Nasser Hussain so astutely summarised, Cummins’ delivery was “too good for a Number 9”.
Shardul Thakur caught Carey bowled Green (51)
Thakur’s remarkable and incredibly physically painful innings came to an end as soon as he finished acknowledging reaching a half century as he edged a simple catch through to Alex Carey behind the stumps.
Mohammed Shami caught Carey bowled Starc (13)
Another simple catch for Carey behind the stumps and with the resistance broken, India’s 1st innings closed at 296 all out, giving Australia a huge 173 run lead on 1st innings.
With crowd favourite and folk hero Virat Kohli leading and urging on the cheerleading of the crowd from the Slips, Indian fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj threw everything at the Australian batsmen in the short session prior to the Tea Break, and the impressive Siraj snagged a deserved and vital early wicket.
David Warner caught Bharat bowled Siraj (1)
At 2–0, Warner lazily wafted at a wide delivery that just caught the very end of his bat before comfortably being snaffled by Srikar Bharat behind the stumps. Warner looked impressive in his team’s first “dig” with the bat. Here was a shot he’d sooner forget and a pile of afternoon runs in the sun went begging.
TEA BREAK: Day 3 Australia 23–1 (lead by 196 runs)
Usman Khawaja caught Bharat bowled Yadav (13)
Khawaja simply never started post the Tea Break and as with his opening batting partner David Warner, he simply and limply wafted at a wide delivery he really should have left alone and instead, presented a simple catch once more to Srikar Bharat behind the stumps.
Australia are 24–2 and leading by 197 runs.
Steve Smith caught Thakur bowled Jadeja (34)
The chuckle and chirp brothers of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith eased their way to a 62 run partnership before Smith, the archetypal “wall” in cricket and incredibly difficult to get out, simply gave his wicket away with a rash sky high catch that Thakur grabbed on the run.
Travis Head caught and bowled Jadeja (18)
Given a “life” when on 12 with Yadav bumbling and bungling a boundary catch out of his own hands and over the boundary for a 6, the next ball a tenacious and quick scoring Head smashed a return catch straight at Jadeja and the centurion from the 1st innings was out, and his team on the unlucky “Nelson” score in cricket of 111 for the loss of 4 wickets.
12 runs later, and for the loss of no further wickets, Australia ended Day 3 with an overnight total of 123–4, and a Test Match lead of 296 runs. Marnus Labuschagne remains not out overnight on 41 alongside Cameron Green on 7 and with six 2nd Innings wickets remaining, the bare minimum the Australian team must be looking at is at least a further 150 runs (with Labuschagne charged with making the majority of these all whilst anchoring the innings) and if they reach this target tomorrow, they’ll be setting India a history making Test Match record run chase for victory.
Another absorbing day of Test Match cricket is at an end and I can’t wait to see how Day 4 develops early tomorrow morning as quite simply, India need wickets, and they need them fast to stay in with a shout of being crowned World Test Champions.
See you tomorrow!
Thanks for reading. Here are my daily recaps for Days 1 and 2 of this World Test Championship:
Aussies set down dominant marker ahead of The Ashes
Day 1: World Test Championship, The Oval.medium.com
Australia on course to be World Test Champs after just 2 days at The Oval
Day 2, World Test Championship, The Oval.medium.com