Rohit and Gill fall cheaply after India’s attack restrict Australia

India lost both of their opening batters as Australia got off to a superb start with the ball before tea on day two of the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval.

A much-improved display from the Indian bowling attack helped restrict Australia to 469 all out, with Mohammed Siraj the pick of the bowlers, finishing with four wickets to his name.

But Australia did some real damage early on with the new ball to leave India in a spot of bother in their reply, with Pat Cummins and Scott Boland getting the Duke ball to talk and leaving India on 37/2 at the interval.

Shubman Gill got off the mark with a glorious cover drive, while Rohit Sharma made a fast start at the other end, with his every shot cheered to the rafters by a large Indian contingent in the stands.

But both openers were soon back in the hutch. Cummins trapped his opposing captain in-front for 15, and Scott Boland – brought on after just two Mitchell Starc overs – bagged what could be his first of many in this English summer to remove India’s star youngster.

The 34-year-old Boland sent one angling in to Gill, who attempted a leave only to be caught out by further movement off the seam that sent the ball cannoning into the top of off stump.

A perplexed Gill departed as Virat Kohli strode past him to the crease, and the crowd favourite survived the remainder of the session alongside Cheteshwar Pujara.

Earlier, India’s quick bowlers hit back superbly with the ball, dismissing both centurions – Travis Head and Steve Smith – before lunch and taking 7/142 on the day to bowl Australia out for 469.

Smith had resumed on 95* and brought up his century off the third ball of the day, clipping the first two deliveries he faced to the leg-side boundary.

And the Smith and Head pairing also passed the previous highest for a fourth-wicket stand in Tests at The Oval inside the opening 15 minutes of play as Australia got off to an excellent start.

With the sun shining bright in south London it looked ominous for India’s bowling attack as Head brought up his 150.

But the second new ball still had plenty of life in it, and the quartet of pacer bowlers turned the momentum in India’s favour with some excellent spells throughout the morning session.

It was a fired-up Mohammed Siraj who made the first breakthrough, tucking Head up with a ball that rose into his body and caught a glove through to the keeper, with the top-scorer departing for 163.

And Mohammed Shami soon made it two wickets in the session when Cameron Green (6) edged a lovely delivery through to the slips where it was well held by Shubman Gill.

Shami and Siraj both bowled beautifully in the opening hour, but it was the change bowlers in India’s much-discussed four-man pace unit who kept the momentum going after drinks.

With Umesh Yadav bowling with pace and aggression at the pavilion end, Shardul Thakur came in from the other and got the scalp that India desperately wanted, with a tempter catching the inside edge of Smith’s bat to direct the ball onto the stumps.

Smith departed to a standing ovation for his 128 – a ninth Test century against India and his 31st overall – and his wicket put further wind in India’s sails as they went in search of more scalps before lunch.

Mitchell Starc was the next Aussie to depart, run out superbly by the substitute fielder Axar Patel after attempting an extremely optimistic quick single.

And, after a flurry from Alex Carey (48 from 60) India got back in the wicket-taking swing of things, with Ravindra Jadeja trapping Carey in front before Siraj rattled the stumps of Nathan Lyon and had Pat Cummins caught at extra-cover to finish with 4/108.

Australia had resumed their first innings on 327/3 after a first day that had been dominated by Smith and Head’s huge partnership (a stand that eventually reached 285 before Head departed).

In hindsight, the partnership between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne that lasted most of the first morning saw off the trickiest time for batting.

And although the pair fell either side of lunch on Wednesday, their efforts protected Smith and Head from the worst of the conditions, and the result was a partnership that had Australia well on the front foot.

India needed wickets and plenty of them early in the second day, and they got exactly that thanks to an outstanding team display that has kept their hopes of getting back into a winning position in this match just-about alive.