India vs Australia, WTC Final: Day 1 - Talking Points

Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Australia into bat first. Under overcast conditions and a fresh green surface, the Indian bowlers extracted early movement and also got early success. Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj bowled a fantastic spell with the new ball, putting the Aussie batters under pressure. Siraj took the first wicket in the four over of the day, removing Usman Khawaja for a duck in the fourth over. David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne managed to see off the early swing and once the sun came out, it the pitch started to get better.

Warner and Labuschagne stitched together a 69-run partnership for the second wicket. Right at the stroke of lunch, Shardul Thakur delivered for India, dismissing the dangerous-looking Warner (43 off 60). Shami bowled a brilliant delivery straight after the break and dismissed Labuschagne, reducing Australia to 76/3. At this point, Australia were looking in all sorts of bother.

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Travis Head joined Steven Smith, and it was a sensational display of Test match batting by both these players. Travis Head batted with positive intent and scored aggressively. On the other, Steve Smith was at his usual best, playing traditional cricket and frustrating the bowlers. Travis Head eventually got to his 6th Test century, his first against India and was unbeaten at 146 off 156 balls. Smudge continued his love affair with the venue and got close to his hundred, remaining not out at 95 off 227 deliveries.  

At stumps, Australia were 327/3 after 85 overs and the partnership between Smith and Head reached 251. It was a tough day for the Indian bowlers after the 25th over and they were made toil hard for the wickets. With the sun beating down, and the pitch getting better for batting. It will be interesting to see how much Australi can stretch the lead on day two.