London [UK], June 11 : Following the crushing defeat to Australia in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) final on Day 5 at the Oval on Sunday, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma made a scathing assessment of his bowlers on Day-1, saying that they let themselves down.
After picking up two wickets in the first session, India looked to have seized the initiative early in the piece. However, Travis Head and Steve Smith took the game away from the Indians thereafter, scoring 146 (156) and 95 (227) respectively by the close of play on Day-1.
"I thought we started well with winning the toss, putting them to bat in those conditions. We bowled well in the first session and then we let ourselves down with how we bowled. Got to give credit to the Australian batters," Rohit said after the match on Star Sports.
"Head came in and played really well along with Steven Smith. That just took us off guard a little bit. We knew it was always hard to come back, but we put up a good show. We fought till the end. We've worked hard for all those four years. Playing two finals is honestly a good achievement for us. But we'd like to go a mile ahead as well," Rohit said.
India defied the odds to make their place into the second successive WTC final, as they leapfrogged Sri Lanka in the rankings to play against Australia at the Oval.
The India skipper stated that even though the team ended up on the losing side, they performed well and will hold their heads high on the return fight.
"You can't take the credit away from what we've done in those last two years to come here. Great effort from the entire unit. Unfortunate that we couldn't go on and win the final but we'll keep our heads high and fight," Rohit added.
Coming to the match, India started day five at 164/3, with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten at the crease.
However, a game-changing over by Scott Boland, which saw him trap Virat for 49 and Ravindra Jadeja for a duck, started India's downfall. Rahane was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for 46 while Srikar Bharat (23) was dismissed by Nathan Lyon.
The Indian batting line-up failed to put up a fight, bundling out for 234 runs in 63.3 overs to hand Australia their first-ever WTC title.
Lyon was the pick of the bowlers for Australia, taking 4/41. Boland took 3/46 while Starc got two wickets. Skipper Pat Cummins got one wicket.
On day four, India ended at 164/3, with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten at the crease. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill (18) gave the team a brisk start with a 41-run opening stand, but a contentional catch by Cameron Green on Boland's delivery ended the partnership.
A 51-run stand between Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara helped India carry forward the chase with an attacking intent. But Lyon dismissed Rohit for 43 and Cummins removed Pujara for 27 to reduce India to 93/3. From that point on, Rahane and Virat formed a 71-run stand to end the fourth day strongly.
Australia declared their innings at 270/8, gaining a lead of 443 runs. Australia was restricted to 24/2 at one point, but Marnus Labuschagne (41) and Steve Smith (34) brought back Australia into the game. Later, contributions from middle-order/lower-middle-order players like Cameron Green (25), a half-century from wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey (60*) and his 93-run stand with Mitchell Starc (41) increased Australia's lead over India.
Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 3/58. Umesh Yadav (2/54) and Mohammed Shami (2/39) 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. Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14) and Virat Kohli (14) failed to post big scores. 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). David Warner (43) and Marnus Labuschagne (26) made notable contributions, but Australia was reduced to 76/3. From that point, Head and Smith attacked Indian bowlers, hitting their centuries. Later in the innings, Alex Carey also provided some much-needed extra runs with a knock of 48.
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.
Travis Head was given the 'Player of the Match' title for his attacking 163.
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