Australia won their first World Test Championship title by defeating India by 209 runs in the final at The Kia Oval. Here are the player ratings for the Australian side for the WTC 2023 Final.
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David Warner – 4/10
Warner came into the England tour with question marks over whether he would last the entirety of it. He did get off to a good start in the first innings of the WTC Final, scoring a quickfire 43 off 60 balls in difficult batting conditions. However, he wasn’t able to convert it into a big score and was strangled down the leg-side. In the second innings, he was dismissed early as India battled hard after having gathered some momentum towards the end of their first innings.
Usman Khawaja: 1.5/10
Khawaja couldn’t get going in the WTC Final as he was snapped up for a duck by Mohammed Siraj in the first innings, with Justin Langer strangely blaming his full-sleeve sweater for the dismissal. Umesh Yadav got him caught behind with a flashy drive outside off in the second innings. Australia scored more than 700 runs in the Test, with Khawaja contributing only 13 of those.
Marnus Labuschagne: 6/10
The No.1 ranked Test batter in ICC rankings got off to good starts in both innings but didn’t managed to reach 50. In the first innings, he battled a tough period of new ball bowling against Mohammed Shami and Siraj, scratching out 26 runs, while in the second he scored 41 runs, soaking all the pressure that India were building up at the start of the innings. While not big, his contributions at No.3 were crucial for Australia in both innings.
Steve Smith: 8.5/10
Steve Smith has a habit of scoring big against India. He did so again on the biggest of stages, notching his 31st Test hundred in the first innings of the WTC Final, and taking the game away from India. He stitched a mammoth 285-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Travis Head that effectively killed the game in the first four sessions of the Test match. Smith then returned in the second innings to score a quick 34 off 47 balls, frustrating India and taking Australia’s lead beyond India’s reach.
Travis Head: 9/10
Travis Head’s 163 at a strike rate of more than 90 in the first innings of the WTC Final, on what looked like a green track, was the point of difference between the two sides. Head had been in tremendous form at home last year, but was dropped for Australia’s first Test in India earlier this year given his well-documented issues against spin. He then made a comeback later in that series and played a couple of decisive innings, followed by this one at The Kia Oval, a knock that has fully established him as a Test cricketer. Apart from the first innings hundred, Head also scored 18 in the second innings.
Cameron Green: 6.5/10
Cameron Green was slotted in at No.6 in the Australian line-up to play the all-rounder’s role, and he contributed in all three departments. While he didn’t get a big score or blast the opposition batters off with his bowling, he did make handy contributions, scoring a 95-ball 25 in the second innings that frustrated India, taking 2-44 in the first innings, including the wickets of Pujara and Shardul Thakur, and most importantly, taking two screamers at gully – of Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings and of Shubman Gill in the second.
Alex Carey: 7.5/10
Carey scored a total of 114 runs in the Test match, including 48 in the first innings that took Australia past 450 and 66 in the second, that destroyed all hopes of an Indian comeback in the game. He came in to bat at 124-5 in the second innings and added more than 140 runs for the next three wickets, taking the game away from India. He was good behind the stumps as well and took a total of six catches in the game.
Mitchell Starc: 4.5/10
Starc disappointed with the ball, going at over five runs per over in both innings of the WTC Final. Luckily for him and Australia, between his wayward bursts, he managed to bowl a couple of peaches and took important wickets, including that of Virat Kohli in the first innings and Rahane in the second. Starc also made a telling contribution with the bat in the second innings, scoring 41 runs and stitching a 93-run seventh-wicket partnership that took the target beyond India’s reach.
Pat Cummins: 4/10
Cummins had figures of 4-138 in the WTC Final and went at more than four runs per over in both innings. He also bowled several no-balls in the game, two of which resulted in wickets that had to be overturned. Unlike Starc, Cummins didn’t contribute with the bat though, and overall, would be disappointed with his efforts on a helpful pitch.
Nathan Lyon: 7.5/10
Lyon took five wickets across the two innings, two of which were of well-set batters: Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings and Rohit Sharma in the second. He also did the job of cleaning the tail quickly on the morning of Day 5, ending up with a much better performance than was expected of him given the conditions.
Scott Boland: 8/10
Boland made it to the Australia XI for the WTC Final only because Josh Hazlewood was unfit for the game. However, he looked like the best of Australia’s seamers and constantly troubled the Indian batters. His ball to dismiss Gill in the first innings was regarded as one of the most dangerous balls of the game. In the second innings, he killed the game by taking the wickets of Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over on the morning of Day five.
