Windies pacers cause epic Australia collapse as they lose 7 wickets for 87 runs to be skittled out for 225.
Windies seamers shine as Australia bowled out for 225 after a 7 for 87 collapse.
Under the brand-new Sabina Park floodlights, Australia collapsed spectacularly at 7 for 87 as the West Indies’ quicks took advantage of the conditions. Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, and Justin Greaves shared all ten before Mitchell Starc responded with an early inroad in his 100th Test.
Starc, who had previously gathered a duck and received a farewell from Seales, came very near several times before dismissing rookie Kevlon Anderson, who inside-edged onto the stumps while trying to drive. After John Campbell and Mikyle Louis, who had been brought in to replace the underperforming Kraigg Brathwaite after he surpassed 100 Tests, suffered injuries on the pitch, the West Indies were pushed into a makeshift opening pair of Anderson and Brandon King.
With King and Roston Chase playing well throughout the day, losing just one wicket in 45 minutes against this Australian assault with a pink ball under lights may be deemed a success. The worth of Australia’s total will only become evident as the West Indies’ innings progresses, as has been the case in the first two Test matches.
With Cameron Green and Steven Smith well set, Australia was comfortably put on 129 for 2 just before the dinner break. However, just before the break, Green was hit by a fantastic delivery from Seales, and then the last session got underway swiftly. Smith and Beau Webster were taken out by Shamar Joseph, and Anderson Phillip, a substitute, made a spectacular catch to take Travis Head out.
Following Alzarri Joseph’s forced departure from the field due to back issues and subsequent scans, Seales, Shamar Joseph, and Greaves carried West Indies’ bowling. Campbell was hit in the chest at short leg, while Louis hurt his knee after it was shaken in the outfield.
Before a ball was bowled, the day was highly intriguing as it was confirmed that Australia had chosen an all-pace attack and had left out Nathan Lyon for the first time since he was available for a Test match in 2013. Meanwhile, West Indies believed that the situation justified summoning up their specialist spinner, Jomel Warrican.
On a well-grassed surface, both West Indies’ spinners had purchase, but quicks needed a lot of help all day long. As the day wore on, things became quite challenging.
What would follow was not reflected in the early exchanges’ tempo. The longest opening stand of the series was put together by Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas, who were dropped on 1 after battling through the first hour for 21 runs. With only four boundaries hit by lunch, Australia was 50 for 1, though that was partially due to a slow outfield.
Anderson, who made his debut, was cautious in his running early on and twice could have been out if there had been direct hits. Anderson lost a chance at third slip in the fifth over, giving Konstas a life. Greaves trapped him leg before wicket after he had put in a lot of effort against the new ball, leaving him with just one inning to leave his imprint in the series.
After absorbing a lot of pressure and some excellent deliveries, Khawaja was edged by Shamar Joseph from around the wicket by Shai Hope’s spectacular catch.
Before King caught a repeat at first slip, Smith cut an edge over the cordon against Shamar Joseph. Webster edged behind, but this time he did not do a repair act.
When Head tried to throw Greaves over the off side, Phillips held him brilliantly, sprinting to his right of mid-off and flying horizontally to secure the catch. Head hadn’t reached peak gear as he had first tried to repel the bowling.
It was obvious that bat-throwing time had been announced. Before falling behind Greaves, Alex Carey had already lofted a six over mid-off. Before picking up long-on, Pat Cummins threw the bat at almost everything and hit three sixes. When Shamar Joseph got rid of Josh Hazlewood, he increased his series total to 17.