IND vs AUS, WTC Final, Day 1: Travis Head Onslaught Rattles India On Opening Day

Travis Head struck like a tornado with a counter-attacking hundred that left an out-of-sorts Indian attack bereft of ideas as Australia made hay under bright sunshine by reaching 327 for 3 on the opening day of the World Test Championship final. The ploy of leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin backfired once there was bright sunshine as both Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur looked under-cooked as India were completely outplayed in the second and third session with Rohit Sharma's captaincy leaving a lot to be desired.

India picked an extra fast bowler at the expense of Ravichandran Ashwin but that did not help their cause as Head (146 batting) and Smith (95 batting) amassed an unbeaten 251 run partnership off 370 balls for the fourth wicket, lifting Australia from a uncomfortable 73 for three.

In fact Head at the end of the day said, it was a good toss to lose.

"Losing the toss this morning, we've done exceptionally well. There's still plenty there as you could see with that second new ball. A lot of hard work to go tomorrow morning but nice to make a really good start," Head tod broadcasters at the end of the day.

"I was trying to make sure I was in really good positions today. I got tested through parts of that. I just tried to work through those periods and be adjustable. It's nice when you've got a bloke at the other end playing as well as he is, it's a nice start," he added.

The third wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (26) came in the 25th over before overcast skies made way for bright sunshine as Smith and Head made the most of batting friendly conditions through the afternoon and evening sessions. In all there were 44 boundaries hit along with a maximum, depicting the plight of Indian pace attack.

It was Head's first century