Australia take control of WTC final as India contribute to own downfall

On a day of unbroken sunshine India toiled in Australia’s shadow. Ascendant at the end of day one, Pat Cummins’s side were resplendant at stumps on day two and though Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane had led something of a late fightback India ended the day on 151 for five, still 318 behind.

They will feel they contibuted to their own downfall. There was some unexceptional bowling, occasionally downright wayward, as Australia reached a daunting total of 469. Later, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara fell to superlative deliveries, but they would have had a better chance of impeding their progress towards the stumps had they attempted to put their bats in the way.

If this game is drawn the trophy is shared, which rather takes away the incentive for a side to take any risks once they fall behind in the contest. India’s intention at the end of Australia’s innings must have been to slowly, carefully, find a foothold in the cliff-face. Perhaps they picked up on the fervour of the crowd, who greeted every run as if the scorer had just won a lifetime achievement Bafta, but little about what progress they made at the start of their innings was calm or careful.

The top four all fell having scored 3, 14 or 15, three of them when leaving or at least trying to. Captain Rohit Sharma led the way, pinned lbw by Cummins. Gill followed in the next over, shouldering arms as a Scott Boland delivery swung towards middle and off. The delivery that did for Pujara was nearly identical, for all that it hit only one stump, Cameron Green finally claiming his first Indian Test wicket at the 389th attempt.

Then Mitchell Starc got one to rear viciously into Virat Kohli and as the batter tried to get out of the way it flicked off his right thumb,