Team India faced yet another heartbreak in the final of the World Test Championship – this time against Australia – as the side conceded a 209-run defeat at The Oval. Chasing a 444-run target, India faced a batting collapse on the final day after a promising end to the previous day, losing seven wickets in the opening session to concede a second-successive final defeat in the tournament. This is Australia’s first WTC title and with it, the side became the first in cricket history to win all ICC titles (ODI and T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and WTC).
India resumed Day 5 on 164/3, with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane carrying the expectations from Indians fans after a strong finish on the fourth day. While Kohli had been unbeaten on 44, Rahane was batting on 20; both had looked in cruise control in the final session of Day 4 despite India losing the quick wickets of Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara in the session. Both batters had a disciplined start to the final day but Scott Boland eventually struck the key breakthrough right after the half-an-hour mark in the session, as he dismissed Virat Kohli on 49. Boland enticed Kohli to go for a cover drive but the batter found a thick outside edge, that carried to Steve Smith at slips.
Ravindra Jadeja, then, departed in the same over two deliveries later, crashing India’s hopes for a victory in the game. The onus of steering India through – once again – was left on Ajinkya Rahane and even as the batter looked assured in his stay at the crease, he too, departed in the 57th over with Mitchell Starc taking the wicket. India’s score stood at 212/6 at the time, and win looked an impossibility. It was, then, a straightforward passage of play for the Australian pacers who took the remaining four wickets within the next 22 runs, with Nathan Lyon dismissing Mohammed Siraj for India’s final wicket.
