Pacer Mohammed Siraj provided a crucial breakthrough in his opening spell before seamer Shardul Thakur got rid of a well-set David Warner to reduce Australia to 73 for two at lunch on day one of the World Test Championship final against India. Having survived challenging conditions in the first hour at The Oval, Warner (43 off 60) and Labuschagne (26 batting off 61) were on course to see off the session until Thakur dismissed the left-handed opener with a short ball targeting his rib cage. Wicketkeeper KS Bharat took a well-judged catch down the leg-side.

India expectedly opted to bowl in overcast conditions and on a pitch with fair amount of grass. They made the tough call to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing eleven for a four-pronged pace attack including Shami, Siraj,Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur.