Match summary:
India 151 for 5 (Jadeja 48, Boland 1-29, Lyon 1-4) trail Australia 469 (Head 163, Smith 121, Siraj 4-108) by 318 runs.
As their team took control of the World Test Championship final, Australia's bowlers demonstrated to India exactly where they had gone wrong on day one. Their quicks settled into the ideal length on a still-helpful Oval wicket. India's response to their first-innings total of 469 was brought to 151 for 5 by stumps on day two thanks to Australia.
The majority of the damage was done by the fast bowlers, but Nathan Lyon also claimed a wicket from a dipping, twisting offbreak that had India's highest scorer, Ravindra Jadeja, nicking to first slip around 15 minutes before stumps, ending a 71-run fifth-wicket stand with Ajinkya Rahane. The wicket and the way it was taken may have heated up the discussion regarding India's selection and R Ashwin's absence from the lineup against an Australian lineup that featured many left-handed hitters.
Despite this, India's main problems were not caused by their selection of four quick bowlers, but rather by the way they Bowled. To constantly test the stumps and put all ways of dismissal into play on a pitch that bounced more than the ordinary Indian surface, they had to pitch the Ball fuller than usual. They didn't do this often enough, and even though their bowlers rallied to take 7 for 142 in the early half of day two, it may have been too little, too late because they had allowed Australia to easily cruise to 327 for 3 on day one.
On a field that was now starting to show fractures all over its surface after being bowled out nearly exactly halfway through the day's play, Australia's fast bowlers stepped out and demonstrated how it's done. While Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off to a brisk start and Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins routinely overpitched at the beginning of their new-ball stints, it only seemed a matter of time before the quicks figured out the right length - full but not driveable.
The final ball of the sixth over was hammered by Cummins, who nipped it in and trapped Rohit in front of it. Then Scott Boland, a bowler seemingly made in a lab to bowl in these conditions, bowled a wicked in dipper to follow nine probing dot balls to the two openers that Gill fatally shouldered arms to.
Before Cameron Green produced a replica of the Boland ball that had bowled Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli put on 20 each before tea, looking in fine form but always cautious of the seam movement and occasionally uneven bounce that characterised this surface. India was 50 for 3 as Pujara replicated Gill's response, with all three of their top batsmen being bowled or lbw.
When Starc returned, he joined the fray with a vicious ball to Kohli that was slanted across from a left-arm over and took off from a length, making it 71 for 4. Pressing forward, Kohli was unable to safely navigate the situation and could only glove the ball to second slip.
If Cummins had not stepped out when he bowled a peach that straightened from that ideal fullish length to beat Rahane's outside edge and strike his back pad roughly in front of off stump, Rahane might have fallen shortly after. Rahane examined the play after being called for it on the pitch, and the no-ball was confirmed by the replays. Ball-tracking data revealed two reds and the line-of-impact call decision of the umpire.
Over the past two English summers, batting against the old Dukes ball has been much simpler than it has been against the new one, with Nos. 5 and 6 here since the beginning of 2022 averaging a world-leading 53.08 while Nos. 1 to 4 average 31.28 — they've only performed worse in the West Indies (31.00) during this time. India's fifth-wicket combination appeared to be much more at ease than their top-order counterparts after a nervous early period that included that near lbw call and two leading edges from Jadeja.
Jadeja, who benefited from Australia's bowlers, particularly Starc, routinely overpitching to him, sped along at over a run per ball, while Rahane, who was playing Test cricket for the first time since January 2022, clicked along more slowly but still appeared to be just as fluid. India would have hoped that their partnership would last till stumps, but Lyon dashed those expectations when he hit with his ninth delivery of the game.
With Steven Smith five runs shy of reaching his 31st Test hundred and Travis Head four short of reaching 150, the day had started out clear and sunny. They promptly reached their respective milestones, with Mohammed Siraj giving Smith two straight half-volleys in the morning's first over to give India a concerning start to the day.
However, things got better as Head's body was repeatedly targeted by short balls, and on 163, the left-hander gloved Siraj down the leg side. The No. 6 Green was then sent back by Mohammed Shami, who produced a stunning shot by slanting a full ball in from beyond the crease to deflect a careless drive away from the body.
The next to go was Smith, who continued to play for 121 by pushing away from his body at a harmless Shardul Thakur away-curler. India had scored three runs before Australia hit 400, and they may have thought they could end their innings soon after, but Alex Carey's counterattacking 48 pushed the score above 450. Carey rode his luck until falling in a recognisable way, lbw when attempting a reverse-sweep off a stump-to-stump delivery from Jadeja. This was especially true against Umesh Yadav, who struck Carey's bat repeatedly in a brief stretch after lunch.
In the end, Siraj was India's most effective bowler, finishing with figures of 4 for 108, while Shami and Thakur both claimed two wickets. That was the first Australian wicket to fall to spin.
