Fantasy: Batters and seamers will hold sway in the WTC final

Venue: Kennington Oval, London

Average first innings score in last three years:155

50% of the games have been won by team batting first

Pacers have picked 89.71% of the wickets to fall here. Spinners have picked 10.29% of the wickets.

Suggested Team

While you could go for the above team, you can also choose your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.

Captain - Steve Smith

Vice Captain - Ravindra Jadeja

Top run scorers at this venue

The above graphic tells you the top batters at the venue in the past three years. Click here to check the full list categorized on different parameters - runs, strike-rate, batting average etc.

Top wicket takers at this venue

The above graphic tells you the top bowlers at the venue in the past three years. Click here to check the full list categorized on different parameters - wickets taken, bowling average, bowling economy etc.

Stats That Matter

Indian pacers have an economy of 3.55 in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) since 2022, the third-worst amongst all pace attacks in these countries.

Pat Cummins has had the wood over the Indian top-order. Both, Kohli and Pujara have a poor record against the Aussie skipper. While the former averages just 24.5 and has been dismissed seven times, Kohli's corresponding numbers stand at 16.5 and 10, respectively. 

The average first-innings score at the venue since 2021 is 155, and only one side - England - have won a Test here chasing a fourth-innings total. The other two teams have preferred to defend a total at the venue. 

Since 2018, Ravindra Jadeja has scored over 400 runs at an average of nearly 35 in England. Rohit Sharma will be hoping for him to replicate these returns in the WTC final as well. 

Grand League Punts

Ashwin holds an impressive record versus Australia. Not to forget his expertise against left-handers. Australia are likely to have four left-handed batters in their top seven. If the pitch breaks towards the second innings, the off-spinner has a great chance to disrupt the opposition batters.

Since the turn of 2022 in first-class cricket, only 20 wickets have fallen to spin at the venue. In comparison, 311 wickets have been taken by pacers, which accounts for 93.9% of the wickets. Since the beginning of the first edition of WTC, Mohammed Shami has picked up 81 wickets, the most by an Indian pacer, whilst still averaging 23.8.

Probable XIs

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj