WTC Final 2023: Australia lifts World Test Championship

Australia defeated India by 209 runs to lift the World Test Championship and become the first Team in the history of cricket to win all ICC championships. WTC Final 2023: Australia lifts World Test Championship.

Scott Boland gave Australia the perfect start on Day 5 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final as he got rid of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over. India resumed the day from the overnight total of 164/3 and Kohli along with Ajinkya Rahane added 15 runs, before Boland crashed India’s party.

Virat Kohli was caught at slips by Steve Smith for 49, while Jadeja was caught-behind for duck. Rahane then played a few shots before he was removed by Mitchell Starc for 46. Shardul Thakur, who scored a half-century in the first innings, failed to open his account this time.

India will face the daunting task of chasing down 280 runs on the fifth day of the World Test Championship Final at the Oval. The Rohit Sharma-led team has lost 3 wickets for 164 runs chasing down the mammoth total of 444 runs.

First-innings hero Ajinkya Rahane is firmly planted on the crease and is batting a total of 20 runs. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is inching towards his half-century and batting on 44. Kohli and Rahane will look to take full advantage of the 40-over ball after batting through the first few overs of the first session on day five.

While Australia are well ahead in the match, memories of the Gabba Test match will still be fresh in the Kangaroos’ minds. At least one of India’s two set batters will have to score a big century on Day 5 if they are to have any chance of lifting the WTC mace.

India will also need useful contributions from lower-order batsmen Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav to chase down the total. Statistically, the highest total chased at The Oval in a fourth innings was 263 when England chased in 1902.

Also Read: Shubman Gill finally breaks silence on his controversial catch in WTC Final 2023