Aussies registers a 9-wicket victory on Day 3- West Indies v Australia 1st Test Match Report

Aussies registers a 9-wicket victory on Day 3- West Indies v Australia 1st Test Match Report: The Australians have taken the 1-0 lead in the 2 match Test series after they defeated the West Indies by 9 wickets at Dominica. West Indies managed to put on fight on Day 3 led with Dowrich and Samuels but collapsed otherwise. As a result, they managed to set a target of 47 which was chased down by the Aussies inside 5 overs by losing a wicket. Earlier, the Aussies got a huge lead thanks to a brilliant debut century from Adam Voges.

After electing to bat, West Indies got a decent start as they were positioned at 63 for the loss of 1 wicket after the first hour. But regular strikes from the Australians unsettled the West Indies batting. Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood picked up 3 wickets each as the hosts were bowled out for just 148.

Shai Hope with 36 and Jason Holder with 21 turned out to be the major contributors towards their team’s total. In reply, Australians lost 3 early wicket by end of day 1 and trailed by 63 runs.

On the second morning, Bishoo with his classical leg spin, kept sending back the Aussies to the pavilion. Adam Voges, the debutant kept fighting at the other end. Bishoo’s delivery to dismiss Brad Haddin was highlight of the game as it turned from leg stump to hit the off stump, recreating Shane Warne’s magical delivery to Mike Gatting on its 22nd anniversary.

Adam Voges had his continued his resistance with the No. 10 and 11 batsmen as they lost 8 wickets for 178. First he put on a 43 runs stand with Lyon and later got brilliant support from Josh Hazlewood with whom Voges shared a 97 run partnership. In this process, Voges scored his century on Test Debut and became the oldest player to score a century on Test debut.

Voges remained unbeaten on 130 as Australia got all out for 318 getting a lead of 170. Devendra Bishoo picked up 6 wickets with Josh Hazlewood contributing 39. West Indies lost two quick wickets on Day 2 in their 2nd innings and trailed 145 runs at end of day’s play.

After losing an early wicket on Day 3, the only fight back with the bat from West Indies in the game began, thanks to a marathon partnership between Dowrich and Samuels. Both the batsmen glued themselves to the wicket and ensured they don’t lose any other wicket before Lunch. They continued the same in the Post Lunch session as they didn’t allow the Aussies to pick even 1 wicket in the session. In this process both the batsmen completed their fifties.

Couple of overs after Tea, Lyon dropped a catch of Dowrich of Hazlewood bowling but it took just 1 more delivery for Hazlewood to get Dowrich. This brought an end to 144 run stand which was spread over 299 balls. That triggered a collapse imminent for the West Indies as Starc, who always has been a brilliant tail remover, picked up last 3 wickets to end the Windies innings at 216. Dowrich, the other debutant scored 70 and Samuels scored 74. Mitchell Starc finished with 4 wickets.

Chasing 47 to win, Warner started off aggressively hitting a four and six on the first two balls he faced. He struck one more six in the next over and at the other end, Marsh struck a couple of fours as well. Warner looked in bit of hurry with darkish clouds surrounding skies as a result he edged out one to the slips when only 5 were needed. Steven Smith stuck a four on the first ball he faced and couple of deliveries later, picked up a single to complete the victory for Australia.

Brief Scorecard:

Australia: 47 for 1 in 5 overs (DA Warner 28, JE Taylor 1/22) and 318 all out in 107.2 overs (AC Voges 130*; D Bishoo 6/80) won by 9 wickets.

West Indies: 216 all out in 86 overs (MN Samuels 74, SO Dowrich 70; MA Starc 4/28, JR Hazlewood 2/17) and 148 all out in 53.5 overs (SD Hope 36; JR Hazlewood 3/33)