WTC Final 2023: Australia end first innings at 469 as Umesh Yadav goes wicketless for 4th successive innings

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WTC Final 2023: Australia ended their first innings at 469 in 121.3 overs in the second session on Day 2 of the World Test Championship final (WTC Final) at The Oval in London. The side started the day at their overnight score of 327/3 but Indian pacers came up with a spirited performance this time.

Mohammed Siraj provided early breakthrough by getting rid of centurion Travis Head (163 off 174) before Mohammed Shami dismissed Cameron Green and Shardul Thakur castled the stumps of Steve Smith (121) who brought up his 31st Test hundred.

Ravindra Jadeja chipped in to help India get rid of Alex Carey. In fact, substitute fielder Axar Patel also did a tremendous job on the field to send Mitchell Starc packing. Siraj cleaned the stumps of Nathan Lyon to wrap up Australia's tail.

Each of the five bowlers except Umesh Yadav contributed in some manner. The 35-year-old pacer bowled 23 overs for 77 runs and no wicket. The Vidarbha paceman was already criticised heavily for his wayward line and length on Day 1. The likes of David Warner and Smith took special liking for Umesh, scoring at a brisk rate against him.

4 innings without any wicket for Umesh Yadav

While the other bowlers made up for their mistake on the opening day, Umesh found no luck on Thursday as well. He has now gone four innings without taking any wicket. He did not take any wicket from the two overs in the second innings of the Indore Test.

In the Ahmedabad Test against Australia, Umesh bowled 30 overs without taking any wicket. In total Umesh Yadav has now gone 55 overs without taking any wicket.

His latest wicketless outing has hurt India badly. He failed to capitalise on the early pressure applied by Siraj and Shami on Day 1 as Australia were reduced to 76/3. He was included in the eleven on the cost of Ravichandran Ashwin - the number one bowler and the second-ranked all-rounder in the Test format.

The scoreboard pressure is bound to play on the minds of Indian batters now.