The ICC World Test Championship final (WCT final) between India and Australia got underway on Wednesday (June 7). The highly-anticipated match is being played at the Oval in London.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. And while India made a solid start with the ball, it was not the precursor of the things that were to follow. Mohammed Siraj gave India an early breakthrough by dismissing in-form Usman Khawaja for a 10-ball duck. Two wickets on either side of lunch then saw India reduce Australia to 75 for 3.
But from thereon, it was a one-way traffic as Travis Head and Steve Smith sent the Indian team on a leather hunt. At the time of writing this report, Australia were on 310 for 3 in the 83rd over. Head was batting on 133 while Smith was unbeaten on 91. For India, Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami have picked up one wicket each so far.
ICC WTC Final: What if the match ends in a draw:
The way the Oval pitch has behaved so far, one can say that it is a good track for batting. Australia are on course to post a big total and it would not be surprising at all if India also reply with a big score. In such a case, there might be a possibility that the Test ends in a draw.
So if the ICC WTC Final ends in a draw, who will be the winner? This question must be crossing the fans’ mind after the first day’s action at the Oval. Well, according to ICC rules, if the WTC Final is drawn, tied or abandoned, Australia and India will be declared joint World Test Championship winners. Apart from that, there is a reserve day in place on June 12, which can be used to make up for any loss of playing time during the five scheduled days for the WTC final.