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Australia will be gunning for a clean sweep when they take on the West Indies in the second and final Test at Jamaica. Follow all the action of the first day of this second Test live from 12 midnight (AEDT).
The West Indies were outplayed in an opening Test that was wrapped up within three days.
The hosts were in the game for a small portion of the second day, but their bowlers tired out and the Aussie lower-order came to the rescue again.
There was that mammoth partnership – at least in terms of the amount of time they were at the crease – between Marlon Samuels and Shane Dowrich that could have brought the hosts back into the game. However, a typical West Indian capitulation following the end of that stand all but finished off their hopes on the third day.
Adam Voges starred for Australia on debut, becoming the oldest debutant to score a century in Test cricket, while Mitchell Starc discovered form in the longer format to skittle the opposition.
A target of 47 in the second innings was never going to test the Aussies and while they lost David Warner, the win was sealed on Day 3.
Chris Rogers, who was Australia’s number one opener coming into the series but missed the opening game because of a bouncer-induced concussion, is yet to recover from his issues and as a result the Australian batting line-up won’t be changing from the first Test.
There have been talks about Australia wanting to play a second spinner but if Fawad Ahmed didn’t make it to the starting XI at Dominica, it’s hard to see him getting a nod in Jamaica. The three-pronged pace bowling attack should hold their place.
The West Indies were bowled out for 148 and 216, an indicator of how poorly they batted. Shai Hope (36) was decent in the first dig, while Dowrich and Samuels hit 70s in the second but the rest fared miserably.
Interestingly, skipper Denesh Ramdin was critical of Samuels’ stroke in the second innings after he had gotten himself to 74, which could have been a tad hard of him given it was the match’s second-best score behind Voges. However, given the context of the game, it’s easy to see why Ramdin wanted more out of Samuels. The Jamaican got out to a short ball in the first innings and he played exactly the same kind of shot to throw his wicket away.
Still Samuels will have the right to feel aggrieved about the way the rest of his teammates batted – to go from 3/181 to 216 all out was hardly par for the course.
The West Indies need to put up stauncher fight if they are to avoid another one-sided defeat. Australia have the ammunition and would have brushed off their batting and bowling cobwebs from being away from Test cricket for nearly five months. Their fielding, however, continued to remain from the top drawer and West Indies will do well to emulate them.
Follow all the action of this West Indies vs Australia Test match live from 12 midnight (AEDT), and be sure to post your comments in the section below.
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