The ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) Final between India and Australia is now taking place at The Oval in England starting June 7. The team led by Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first on a wicket that has so far been quite favorable for fast bowlers.
Mohammad Siraj and Mohammad Shami troubled the openers Usman Khawaja (0) and David Warner a lot at the start. Khawaja was out caught by KS Bharat off Siraj for a duck.
Then Marnus Labuschagne employed the tactic of standing good feet and a half outside the batting crease to avoid the LBW dismissal and even got two lives when India opted for DRS reviews.
He added 69 runs with David Warner, who was surviving out there when the conditions were overcast. But when the sun came out, Warner chanced his arm and hit some lovely shots for 43 runs in 60 balls with 8 fours.
His downfall came rather innocuously as Shardul Thakur, bowling around the wicket to the left-hander, banged one short, and Warner, trying to pull it, only managed to glove it towards the leg side, where KS Bharat took an extremely good catch diving to his right.
The ball caught the glove and was dying as it approached Bharat, who dived full length and caught the ball safely just centimeters off the ground.
Australia went to lunch at 73/2 with Marnus Labuschagne on 26* and Steve Smith on 2* with Siraj and Shardul being the wicket-takers for India.
Here is the catch:
