WTC final: Top five performers
The second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 is done and dusted and the mighty Australians have been crowned champions as they defeated Asian giants India by a huge margin of 209 runs at The Oval in London. With this, team India have now lost their second consecutive WTC Final after losing the inaugural summit clash at the hands of New Zealand in 2021. Talking about the performances, a few players, majorly Australians, put on a solid show in the mega final and they appear in this article.
Let’s take a look at the Top 5 Performers from the WTC Final 2023:
1. Travis Head
Travis Head turned out to be the standout performer in the final. With his side in trouble at 76/3 in the first innings, Head stitched a mammoth 285-run partnership with Steven Smith for the fourth wicket. He played a counter-attacking knock of 163 off just 174 with 25 fours and a six as Australia reached a big total of 469. He also struck 18 off 27 with two sixes in the second innings. For his splendid century, Travis won the Player of the Match award.
2. Steven Smith
As mentioned above, Smith was instrumental along with Head in setting up a mammoth total of 469 for his side in the first innings. The classy right-handed batter racked up 121 runs off 268 which included 19 fours. In the second innings, he contributed with his knock of 34 off 47 with the help of three fours. On the fielding front, Smith also grabbed two stunning catches of India’s star batter Virat Kohli in both innings of the ultimate Test.
3. Ajinkya Rahane
Playing in his first Test match since January 2022, Ajinkya Rahane made an outstanding comeback in the team. The 35-year-old right-handed batter was the highest scorer for team India in the first innings. He smashed 89 off 129 with the help of 11 fours and a maximum. In the second innings, Rahane amassed 46 off 108 which included seven fours. Though India lost the final, Rahane had a memorable outing.
4. Alex Carey
After registering just 56 runs in six innings against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy held in India earlier this year, wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey made up for the low scores in the WTC Final. The 31-year-old left-hander struck 48 off 69 with seven fours and a six in the first innings. Carey remained not out on 66 off 105 with eight fours in the second innings as the Aussies reached 270/8, setting a target of 444.
5. Scott Boland
Replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood for the grand fine, seamer Scott Boland did not disappoint his skipper Pat Cummins and his team. The 34-year-old pacer picked up the joint-most wickets (five) for the Australians in the match. He registered figures of 2/59 (20) in the first innings and 3/46 (16) in the second innings. In both innings, Boland picked up the crucial scalp of the in-form batter Shubman Gill. Notably, he got rid of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over early on Day 5 which almost finished all the hopes for the Indians.
