London, June 8 (Agency) India did well to creep back into the game after they scalped 4 wickets for 97 runs in the second morning of the WTC Final 2023 at The Oval here on Thursday. However, Australia were the happier side going into the lunch at 422/7, thanks to a 285-run fourth wicket partnership between Travis Head (163) and Steven Smith.Captain Pat Cummins and Alex Carey were batting on 2 and 22 runs, respectively. India started off badly as Mohammad Siraj offered two juicy deliveries to help Smith get to his 31st Test century.
But then the Hyderabadi hit a good length and finally forced Head to walk back after he gloved a short ball to Srikar Bharat, who took the third catch of the match behind the stumps.Cameron Green did not last long as the tall Aussie flashed hard at Mohammad Shami and was taken by Shubman Gill in the second slip, and Shardul Thakur bagged Smith after forcing him to play a false shot, cleaning him for 121.A splendid one-action throw by substitute Axar Patel brought about Mitchell Starc’s (5) downfall. The pitch looked to have settled down basking under good sunshine, but the odd ball was kicking up. And the Indian batsmen would need to exhibit their reflexes to negotiate such nasty balls when they come in to bat in the next one hour.