India vs Australia Highlights, WTC Final: Australia hammer India by 209 runs to be crowned World Test champions

That brings us to the end of our coverage of the ICC World Test Championship final, with Australia being crowned deserved champions after dishing out a dominant performance at The Oval. India started off on a positive note after winning the toss, but were always playing catch-up after the game-changing partnership between Travis Head and Steve Smith — which ultimately turned out to be the difference between the two sides. Australia couldn't have asked for a better start to their tour of the United Kingdom, where they take on England in the Ashes starting Friday. India, meanwhile, will be left to rue missing out on yet another ICC title.

On that note, this is Amit signing off, bidding you all a happy Sunday ahead and leaving you with this image of the victorious Australian team with the mace.

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Pat Cummins, Australia captain: I imagined we were certainly gonna have a bowl. But the way Travis and Smithy batted gave us some comfort. He has been throughout the campaign, puts the pressure right back on the bowlers. We left Day 1 on top mainly because of those two guys. At times, we lost wickets. I thought couple of days ago, we could have really wrapped it up, but we allowed India to fight back. Fantastic. Scotty Boland, he’s now my favourite player. Coming in after a bit of break, everyone was switched on. Everyone had slightly different preparations, but played well in the end. It’s our favourite format. Grew up watching Test cricket, love it. Turnout this week has been fantastic

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Rohit Sharma, India captain: It was a tough one. I thought we started well, putting them to bat in those conditions. We bowled pretty well in the first session. We let ourselves down with how we bowled. Got to give credit to their batters. Travis Head batted pretty well along with Steve Smith, caught us off guard. We spoke of tighter lines, but things didn’t work out. Sometimes it comes off really well, sometimes it doesn’t. Was a great fightback from both Rahane and Shardul. Second innings as well, we bowled pretty well. Again, we failed with the bat, didn’t apply ourselves. It was a good pitch to bat on. We worked really hard for all those four years. Playing two finals is a good achievement. The Test Championship Final comes once in two years. Cannot take away credit from what we did in those two years. Been unfortunate that we couldn’t go and win, but we’ll keep our heads high. It’s been absolutely brilliant. One behalf of the team, I would like to thank each one of them for supporting us.

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Australia's ICC title count swells to nine now with this victory. Here's a detailed look at their titles in world events:

ODI World Cup: 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015

T20 World Cup: 2021

Champions Trophy: 2006, 2009

World Test Championship: 2023

Travis Head is the Player of the Match for his game-changing knock of 163 in the first innings!

Head: “It’s nice to come here and win. Hard work over two years has paid off. I wanted to be proactive and score if the balls were there and then if they bowl in nice areas you try and be good enough to stay out there for long periods. I’ve always been open to change and learning. Try to be as consistent as I possibly can. Nice for it to work out in such a big game.”

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OUT! Nathan Lyon grabs the final wicket as Australia hammer India by 209 runs to win the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship! Siraj attempts a reverse sweep, and ends up hitting the ball straight to the Aussie skipper standing at backward point, bringing to an end a two-year WTC cycle.

Australia had narrowly missed out on the WTC Final in 2021 after being penalised due to slow over rates, but have more than made up for it this time around!

India have been bundled out for 234, losing their last seven wickets inside the morning session!

Siraj c Cummins b Lyon 1(6)

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FOUR! FOUR! Shami decides to have some fun at Mitch Starc's expense, even if he's going down with the sinking ship. Goes for a lofted drive down the ground at the start of the 63rd followed by a pull towards the fine leg fence, with the senior Indian bowler moving to double figures. Expect a simiilar approach from Siraj as well. IND 232/9 after 62.2
 

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OUT! Australia are one wicket away from victory, and might just wrap this up by lunch! Bharat had survived a stumping chance earlier in Lyon's 15th over, but perishes just three balls later after skieng the ball high in the air while attempting a wild heave, resulting in a simple return catch for the senior offie. Wicket-maiden for Lyon. IND 224/9

Bharat c and b Lyon 23(41)

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OUT! Starc bounces Umesh out, the latter getting a faint nick while attempting to fend it, with Carey stretching his right arm to pull off a one-handed grab. With that, Australia need two more wickets to win the World Test Championship! IND 220/8

Umesh c Carey b Starc 1(12)

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After 60 overs,India 220/7 ( KS Bharat (W) 23 , Umesh Yadav 1)

Bharat taps the ball towards gully for a single, and an ambitious throw by Green not only misses the stumps, but ends up going all the way to the fence resulting in overthrows, much to Starc's frustration. Couple of singles collected in the next over off Lyon's bowling, with Umesh opening his account. Bharat's batting on 23 and will hope to get to his half-century.