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Rohit was seduced by the overcast weather and green wicket.The clouds cleared and the wicket played perfectly. India should of batted first,Aussies in the box seat now.

even with extra time India were 5 overs short mate that will mean no pay or a points penalty for next year if it isn't made up - it is a lot

Positive start to the Final and the England tour. The efforts of Head and Smith will surely boost the confidence of the batting unit. Hopefully the wicket and weather will be an indicator for what's to come over the next few months.

Warner and Labuschagne got starts, whilst Uzzie got decent delivery early on and when the conditions were most favorable for the bowlers. Touch wood Smith can go on and get his 100...and big one as well. Head is notorious for getting out early after a big score the day before...hopefully he can get a double ton. This would allow Green to come out to an older 2nd ball and some leg weary bowlers, and hopefully play a replica of his recent T20 100. 500 + would definitely be more than handy.

today another 180 at least - that would make it hard for India to get the win

unless Australia has a second innings meltdown , India look pretty much done
 

Aust have been here before v India...got them 5 down for not much and their lower order kick in. Thank fudge no Pant, no Ashwin and no Axar in this game....plus Jadeja already back in the shed....maintain a lead around 150 -200 and Aust, as Southerner correctly states, have no 2nd innings melt down....then India look done.

Good efforts by the bowling attack on day 2....fantastic to see Cummins pull the plug early on his mate Mitch when he was bowling pies. Boland went straight into line and length mode....and knocked over the dangerous Gill. Green picked up the equally dangerous, more so out of stubbornness, Pujara and Cummins took care of the skipper. Starc can thank his lucky stars Smith takes classic catches most matches....and Lyon got rid of the damaging Jadeja....and hopefully a sign of more good things to come from Gary on day 4/5.

Missed the Green dismissal, saw a replay....geez pre IPL the kid would of left that being the conservative starter he is....post IPL and he has a dash at it, and nicks off....T20 thanks heaps!

So far so good for Australia. The pitch and weather have suited them perfectly whilst India have looked out of sorts both batting and bowling wise.

I think the English will be looking at Heads influence on games very closely as he is the one batsmen capable of doing a Bazball ( Travball?) on them. I think he will get a lot of short stuff after his discomfort against that type of bowling from Siraj and Shami.

Smith must love England as he has hit his groove immediately.
As Freezin said if Australia can bowl India out for somewhere between 250 and 300, they will be in a position to dictate terms in the 2nd half of the match. Is it like the Shield final was a few years back in that in the event of a draw, the team that finishes top ( in this case Australia) wins the mace?

Not Aust best day in the office....created many chances before lunch to bury India, but brain fades by Aust bowlers and fielders  eeked India back into the game. After lunch things got better.....but them some more brain fades, by the batsmen this time, see's Aust close to nailing India's coffin shut.

Not sure what Smith and Head were thinking.....kind of expect it from Head, thats how he plays.....Smith however prides himself on the grind, then cash in....up to Labs and Big Cam to get that Indian chase over 350, preferably over 400....fingers crossed Green has a day out with both bat n ball on day 4.....a 50 and a 5 for would be nice me thinks for the big fella.

Bizarre days cricket but Australia still hold a significant advantage going into day 4. The first session demonstrated that the team do not cope well with a counter attacking style which spells trouble for the ashes IMO. Dropped catches, no balls, general sloppiness under pressure. Even the captain lost his cool at one stage.

Give them credit, they regrouped at lunchtime and claimed the final four wickets quickly with a good lead of 170. Then another roller coaster batting effort with Warner and Khawaja playing at balls they could have left, Smith was playing beautifully until his brain fade and Head crossed the line from being counter attacking to reckless, he could have been out about half a dozen times before Jadeja got him.

All through this Labuschagne has played sensibly holding up one end despite the spiteful inconsistent bounce of the pitch. 

They have a chance to extend the lead by another 100 on day 4 with the ball 40 overs old and doing less. 400 will probably be too much for India to chase when the previous highest score chased at the Oval was 260 odd. The one rider I will put on this is that Kohli is due for a big score and if he gets in and someone like Pujara stays with him, it could still give our rusty bowling attack a bit of grief. Hopefully they will be better for the run in the 2nd innings

India need 280, Australia need 7 wickets. My money is still very much on the Australians but given the way some of the attack has leaked runs in this match I wouldnt write India off
If Kohli and Rahane can bat through the first session, Australia will start to get visions of Stoke at Headingly 2019 or Pant in Brisbane 2021 where large run chases were also pulled off.

This team has some scars in this sense and the only way they will relax is to remove someone early today ( preferably Kohli). Bizarrely the pitch seems like its settled down into a belter
Thank goodness for Boland, he was the only quick who seemed capable of keeping the run rate under control. Starc really needs to come back strongly today in order to justify his selection ahead of Neser. Cummins is also out of sorts as demonstrated by the number of no balls he is delivering. Lyon will be very important to try and keep control of the scoring rate whilst maintaining the pressure.