WTC Final: Big score, top-order debacle leaves India with a mountain to climb against Australia

Their best phase of the game came when Rahane and Jadeja absorbed pressure and released pressure with crisp stroke-making. Jadeja was the aggressor. He drove and flicked Mitchell Starc for three fours, whipped Scott Boland for a six; when Starc returned for another spell, he creamed him for three more hits to the fence. It was the old cavalier Jadeja, before Nathan Lyon ended his 51-ball 48 with a perfect off-spinner’s piece of deception, making him lunge at a wide off-break with hard hands.

Stumps on Day 2 of the #WTC23 Final!#TeamIndia 151/5 at the end of day’s play and trail by 318 runs in the first innings.

Join us tomorrow for Day 3 action 👍🏻👍🏻

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/0nYl21pwaw pic.twitter.com/dT7aOmDMWQ

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 8, 2023

Comeback man Rahane was less fluent, though he somehow found boundaries in the first half of his knock. An upper-cut four off Boland to get off the mark, a pulled four of Cummins, a drive through cover-point, there were flashes of the old Rahane. He also rode luck — he was leg before wicket off the metronomic Pat Cummins on a delivery that was no-balled on replay — saw his outside edge beaten a few times, and was struck on the helmet. But he survived the day, and on him hinges India’s lingering hopes of hanging on in the game.

Early setbacks

Before the fightback came the meltdown. India were 71 for 4 in 18 overs when Starc produced a ripper to nail Virat Kohli. It was an uncharacteristic stay, Kohli oscillating between the beautiful and banal. He looked infallible one moment and fallible the next. But he was hitting notes of comfort — advertised by a crisply-driven four off Starc through mid-off — before the left-armer’s darting dragon consumed him in its flames.

READ: Did you hear that?: The voices that tell the story of Day 2 of the India-Australia WTC final

By this time, Kohli’s front foot was moving fluently forward, a sign that he was in sync. So he pressed his front foot long and straight to counteract the length ball. But the ball kicked up horrifyingly, like a serpent taunted, and leapt skywards. Kohli was so committed to the front foot that he could not readjust. Most batsmen would not have. He rose with the bouncing ball, but there was not much he could muster to keep the ball down. It reared off the shoulder of the blade to the slip cordon, where Steve Smith sprung on to complete a catch over his head.

One wicket each to the Australian quicks #WTCFinal pic.twitter.com/NaL56qYVqJ

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 8, 2023

Kohli stared disbelievingly at the surface, where one suspects more episodes of variable bounce could kick in as the game progresses.

He could have done little to evade the ball, a freak of the pitch. But the same sympathy could not be extended to the top three. All three dismissals were avoidable. Two of them — Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill — perished leaving balls that they shouldn’t have. Those were not teasing beauties. but straightforward length balls, defendable on either feet. Lethargy ripped out Rohit Sharma, as he played around a ball that shaped in just a fraction and missed it altogether.

Until that moment, Sharma looked in sumptuous touch, pulling Starc’s second ball for a four and then squirting him behind for his second four. The openers had stormed to 30 in six overs, Cummins was forced to replace the out-of-rhythm Starc with Boland.

Masterpiece 👌#WTCFinal pic.twitter.com/6skbxI48P6

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 8, 2023

Then, Sharma and India made their first mistake. The wobble sowed doubts of dilemma in his mind. He was unsure which way the ball would move after pitching. His feet froze. The ball shaped back a fraction after pitching. The inward angle from wide of the crease doubtless exaggerated the movement. So Sharma thought he would get away by tucking the ball down the leg-side. But the movement was subtle, and he was late as the ball cannoned onto his pads. At the same score, Gill departed and a familiar unravelling seemed round the corner.

For seven overs, Kohli and Pujara soaked the pressure and when the opportunity presented, counterpunched. But Australia’s bowlers were relentless and kept probing and plugging away, drying up runs and piling on the squeeze.

Huge wicket by the Aussie captain! #WTCFinal pic.twitter.com/KqMLWhI4AM

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 8, 2023

Familiar failings

There were lessons to be learned for India’s bowlers, who were sharper on the second day than they were on the first, but not persevering enough. They would produce a few dream balls and then let the intensity wither. After pushing Australia down to 402 for seven, they let the last three wickets add 67 rapid runs.

Either side of the four-wicket spell, they surrendered cheap fours. In the first over of the day, Mohammed Siraj gift-wrapped two leg-stump half-volleys to Smith to facilitate his 31st hundred. A semi- comeback followed. But that was it — odd sparks of fightback laced with the same indiscipline and ineptitude like Day One, inadequate to squeeze even a toehold into the game. The door of this game seems firmly shut on them.