London [UK], June 11 : Australian pacer Mitchell Starc said on Sunday that though the pitch has not shown the "tricks and demons" that his side thought it could, the final day of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) title clash against India, adding that there are some cracks on the surface and expects it to break it more on the final day.
India and Australia are playing on the final day of the WTC final against Australia. They ended the final day at 164/3, with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten at the crease. India needs to pull off a mammoth chase of 444 runs to win the title. This chase would be the highest-ever in Tests if pulled off.
"That is what you want in a final, a good spectacle, two of the best teams, comes down to the last day of this Test match. It is exciting for us, it is certainly exciting for the fans. We have a great attack that can take that wicket (of Kohli), fortunate in the first innings. The pitch might play a part, it has not quite shown the tricks and the demons we thought it might. But day five could toss up all sorts of things. Was a little bit surprising, we can see from the surface that there are some cracks there. Hope for it to break up a little bit more today, the sun is obviously out. It has been warmer the last couple of days, we will see how the day plays out. We just need to be patient," said Starc ahead of the match.
"It is the Duke ball, it stays nice throughout the day. Does not change too much, obviously, Scotty (Scott Boland) and Patty (Pat Cummins) present something different than what I do. The great thing with us is not only the three of us but certainly Josh, Ness (Josh Hazlewood and Michael Nesser) as well can all bowl with the new ball. That offers a few options for Pat when he likes to change things up. The wicket of Rohit was big for us. There is enough there as we saw with Jadeja, obviously different bowlers but I think he is still playing a valuable role for us. One that can take wickets, one that can hold one end. A big day for Nathan as well," he added.
Australia declared their innings at 270/8, gaining a lead of 443 runs. A half-century from wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey (60*) and his 93-run stand with Mitchell Starc (41) increased Australia's lead over India after knocks from Marnus Labuschagne (41) and Steve Smith (34).
Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 3/58. Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami got two wickets each while Mohammed Siraj got one scalp.
In their first innings, India was bundled out for 296 runs. India trailed Australia by 173 runs, who had scored 469 runs in their first innings.
India's top order failed in their first innings but contributions from comeback man Ajinkya Rahane (89 in 129 balls, 11 fours and a six), Shardul Thakur (51 in 109 balls with six fours) and Ravindra Jadeja (48 in 51 balls with seven fours and a six) helped India put on a fight after being restricted to 71/4.
Pat Cummins (3/83), Nathan Lyon (2/19), Cameron Green (2/44), Scott Boland (2/59) and Mitchell Starc (2/71) were among the wickets for Australia.
Australia's 469 runs in the first innings were powered largely by centuries from Travis Head (163 in 174 balls, 25 fours and a six), and Steve Smith (121 in 268 balls, 19 fours).
Siraj (4/108) was the leading bowler for India in the first innings. Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami got two wickets while Jadeja got one.
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