A much-awaited World Test Championship Final (WTC) kicked off at The Oval on Wednesday, June 7 with Australia popping out on high of India on the finish on Day 1. Despite successful the toss, the Rohit Sharma-led group was pushed on the backfoot by Travis Head and Steve Smith with the duo including 251* runs for the fifth wicket to assist Australia rating 327/3 in 85 overs.
Head, smashed his first-ever away Test hundred to tear aside the Indian tempo assault in London. The left-handed batter is batting on 146* off 156 and his strike rate of 93.58 boosted him to the highest of the chart for the highest strike rate in the WTC cycle 2021-2023. Head has now recorded 1354 runs in 18* matches in WTC Cycle 2021-2023 at a mean of 58.86 and a strike rate of 81.91 up to now.
He now maintains the highest striker rate in WTC Cycle 2021-2023 as he surpassed the star Indian batter Rishabh Pant, who has scored 868 runs at a strike rate of 80.81. Indian wicketkeeper batter is lacking the WTC Final resulting from an harm he suffered in a automobile accident in December 2022. After the match, Head revealed that the pitch stays difficult for the batters and will probably be robust to bat on Day 2.
“If you get it in the right area there’s plenty there,” Head mentioned. “As the sport goes on, hopefully, it will get somewhat faster for us and we will discover the suitable lengths, and I really feel when you try this for lengthy durations of time it may be a difficult wicket.
“That good length at the top of the stumps was hard work. And as we [saw] when they went to that short-pitched plan it wasn’t the most consistent wicket, and the Dukes swings a little so it made for some awkward moments.”
Head’s 146* additionally helped him surpass England’s Jonny Bairstow in the WTC Cycle 2021-2023 runs chart as he entered the top-five record for the primary time. England Joe Root comfortably leads the chart with 1915 runs whereas Head’s teammate Usman Khawaja, who was dismissed on a duck on Day 1, is second in the record with 1608 runs.
