IND vs AUS, WTC final 2023: Kennington Oval, London pitch history and Test records
Kennington Oval will host the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final match between India and Australia. The big game will take place from June 7 to 11 in London.
Australia and India finished as the top two teams in the ICC World Test Championship points table. The two sides will now battle at a neutral venue, where a new WTC trophy winner will be decided.
Before the big match gets underway, here's a look at the pitch history of Kennington Oval.
Kennington Oval, London Test records & stats
The pitch at this venue has been good for batters. The average first-innings score in Tests played on this ground has been 345, while teams batting first have won 37 out of the 104 Tests hosted by this venue.
Spinners and fast bowlers have received some assistance from the conditions as well. Back in 1998, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took 16 wickets in a Test against England at this venue.
Here are some vital numbers you need to know from previous Tests played at the Kennington Oval:
Test matches played: 104
Matches won by teams batting first: 37
Matches won by teams batting second: 29
Matches Drawn: 37
Highest individual score: 364 - Leonard Hutton (ENG) vs. Australia, 1938
Best bowling figures (innings): 9/57 - Devon Malcolm (ENG) vs. South Africa, 1994
Best bowling figures (match): 16/220 - Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) vs. England, 1998
Highest team score: 903/7 dec - England vs. Australia, 1938
Lowest team score: 44 - Australia vs. England, 1896
Average first-innings score: 345
Kennington Oval, London Pitch report
Photos of the pitch in London have surfaced on social media ahead of the ICC World Test Championship final between India and Australia. Judging by those pictures, one can say that the pitch looks green and should help the fast bowlers.
Batters may find it challenging to score runs against pacers in the first session of the play. However, as the match progresses, the scoring rate should improve. Spinners may come into the play in the second half of the Test.
Kennington Oval, London last Test match
England beat South Africa by nine wickets in the previous Test match hosted by this venue. The match took place in September 2022. Ollie Robinson's five-wicket haul and Stuart Broad's four-wicket haul helped England bowl the Proteas out for just 118 runs in the first innings.
In reply, Ollie Pope's half-century helped England take a 40-run lead. South Africa set a 130-run target for England in the second innings, which was chased down in 22.3 overs with nine wickets in hand.
Here is the match summary:
Brief Scores: South Africa 118 (Marco Jansen 30, Ollie Robinson 5/49) & 169 (Dean Elgar 36, Ben Stokes 3/39) lost to England 158 (Ollie Pope 67, Marco Jansen 5/35) & 130/1 (Zak Crawley 69*, Kagiso Rabada 1/57) by 9 wickets.