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Australia will look to build the advantage they acquired on the opening day against the West Indies as the first Test in Hobart continues. You can follow the live scores and blog of the second day from 10:30am (AEDT).
Expectations of the touring West Indian side haven’t been high, but when they had the Aussies struggling at 3-121 at lunch, there was hope.
Australia had lost two of their best batsmen over the last 24 months or so, in David Warner and Steven Smith. Warner managed to pass another 50, while Smith fell cheaply to give the West Indies an outside chance of running through the Aussie middle order.
Instead, it was the unlikely pair of Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh who dug in for a record-breaking 317-run stand for the fourth wicket. Worse for the tourists, the two are still at the crease, going strong.
Apart from the three wickets that fell, the only half-chance on offer was a dropped catch off Warner, with Denesh Ramdin stretching low in front but failing to latch onto the dipping ball. That happened in the first hour of play, after which the Aussies lost a couple of wickets but were rescued by the Voges-Marsh stand.
Both Western Australian batsmen hit centuries, and will now look to push on to 200s. Such was the tepid nature of the West Indian bowling, it won’t be surprising if they get there.
What was even stranger was West Indies captain Jason Holder opting not to take the new ball, despite having already conceded plenty to the hosts. He also wanted to field first after winning the toss, and went in with four seamers and one spinner, yet bowled 41 of the 89 overs as spin.
While Jomel Warrican made an early impression with the wickets of Warner and Smith, it was strange to see part-timers Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood share a total of 19 overs.
If the score against them looked bad, the body language only seemed worse, and Warrican admitted his side could have done a lot more to not fall into that trap.
“I think it’s difficult when they have a good partnership to keep your head up. That’s the important part. I think that we didn’t do it very well to be honest,” he said of the day’s play.
“I think we let the partnership get to us and our energy wasn’t there. But I think tomorrow things will be a lot different. I think guys will come out more hungry and more fresh as well and looking to get Australia out as quick as possible.”
That will be the hope, because even if they did just that, Australia are already looking at a score of 600-plus. And having batted at almost five an over all day, they still have enough time for their bowlers to target the inexperienced West Indian batting.
Come Day 2, the West Indies need to show they want to compete. They will still struggle against a team that excels when playing at home, but at least there will be some interest in the game.
Follow the second day of the Australia versus West Indies first Test from 10:30am (AEDT), and post your comments in the section below.
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