Day three of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023 came to an end with Australia maintaining a very comfortable lead of 296 runs.
Australia were 123-4 runs at stumps in their second innings with Marnus Labuschagne (41) and Cameroon Green (7) to resume the batting for the Aussies on the fourth day.
The Aussies did not crumble to the pressure despite losing early wickets in the second innings. David Warner went back to the pavilion after scoring just one run as Mohammad Siraj got the better of him.
Usman Khawaja was taken out by Umesh Yadav as he only scored 13 runs while Steve Smith and Travis Head became the victims of Ravindra Jadeja after scoring 34 and 18 runs respectively.
Earlier, India ended their first inning as they were all out for 296 runs thanks to a valiant effort by Ajinkaya Rahane (89), Shardul Thakur (51) and Jadeja (48) on the third day of the WTC final.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma (15) and Shubman Gill (13) fell prey to Pat Cummins and Scott Boland respectively.
Cheteshwar Pujara was bowled by Cameroon Green after scoring just 14 runs on 25 balls. Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc got the better of Virat Kohli, who scored just 14 runs.
India were 71-4 when Jadeja came to bat after which he established a 71-run partnership with Rahane to stabilise the Indian batting.
Thakur and Rahane also combined for a 109-run partnership to keep India alive in the game.
In the first innings, Australia were all out for 469 runs thanks to a solid comeback by the Indian bowlers.
Travis Head and Steve Smith were the stand-out players as Head hit 163 off 174 balls with the help of 25 fours and a six while Smith scored 121 off 268 balls with 19 fours, as they created a record partnership of 285 runs for the fourth wicket at the Oval.
Siraj took four wickets for 108 runs. Shami and Thakur both took two wickets each for 122 and 83 runs respectively. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja only managed to bag one.