Day 1 in Barbados between West Indies and Australia saw 14 wickets fall on a bowling dominated day. Jayden Seales five-wicket haul alongside Shamar Joseph’s 4 wickets restricted Australia to 180 but West Indies top order found things tough to handle against the Australian bowlers. They have been reduced to 57/4 after 20 overs.
Australia were reduced to 22/3 with Sam Konstas, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis falling cheaply. Thereafter, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head put up 89 for the fourth wicket to steady the ship before Khawaja fell as wickets started to fall in regular intervals once again. Captain Pat Cummins scored a useful 28 off 18 balls to take Australia to 180 with Jayden Seales taking 5 and Shamar Joseph taking 4. In reply, West Indies have been reduced to 57/4 in 20 overs. Keacy Carty scored 20. Brandon King is still there on 23* alongside captain Roston Chase with Mitchell Starc picking up a couple of wickets while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood picked up a wicket each. The match is evenly poised at the moment.
Pitch Report and Playing XIS:
“Nice sunny conditions. The grass is rolled in. The good length is just enough for the bowlers. It will be aided by a nice soft breeze coming across. If you bat first, you bat along, you bat well. Not sure how long this pitch will last. On day 4, you have to be careful, on day 5, it is all down to how long you last,” reckons Carlos Brathwaite in his pitch report.
Australia Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
West Indies Playing XI: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope (wk), Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales
Shamar Joseph strikes early; Khawaja and Head take Australia to Lunch without further damage.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Australia did not get off to the best possible start. West Indies bowled immaculate lines and lengths as Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales gave nothing away. It took 3.4 overs for the first wicket to fall as Sam Konstas was trapped in front by Shamar Joseph for 3. He was given NOT OUT on-field by Nitin Menon but the decision was overturned via DRS. Cameron Green came in at Number 3 and was given a reprieve early on as he was dropped at gully by Brandon King. But he did not last long and was dismissed for 3 to Shamar Joseph once again where Justin Greaves took a good low catch at second slip. Josh Inglis came in at 4 but also did not contribute much as he fell for 5 runs to Jayden Seales to leave Australia in a spot of bother at 22/3 in 15.1 overs.
Travis Head joined Usman Khawaja in the middle as the visitors were in need of a partnership to stem the flow of wickets. They played the bowling to the merit with Head being the aggressor but Khawaja was not to be left behind and Alzarri Joseph was the bowler they were targeting. The Aussies counter-attacked a little bit and kept West Indies at bay before Lunch. West Indies were a little sloppy on the field with regards to dropped catches, but they had the measure of Australia when Lunch was taken. At Lunch Australia were 65/3 in 25 overs with Usman Khawaja batting on 32* off 72 balls and Travis Head batting on 21* off 29 balls.
West Indies chip away at wickets despite Travis Head’s fifty in the afternoon session.
West Indies started the afternoon session with Justin Greaves and Alzarri Joseph but the move did not pay much dividend as Australia started well after Lunch with both Head and Khawaja looking positive in the middle. The boundaries kept flowing at regular intervals despite a few close calls here and there. Australia brought up their 100 in 34.1 overs and suddenly they looked quite comfortable in the middle. Khawaja was dropped by Brandon King at gully in the 37th over when he was batting on 45 off the bowling of Jayden Seales. Soon Travis Head brought up his fifty in 57 balls his 15th Test fifty and this was a proper counter-attacking innings from him.
Just as everything was going well for the Aussies, Shamar Joseph came back into the attack and broke the 89-runs stand as Usman Khawaja fell 3 short of his fifty getting the outside edge to Shai Hope the keeper batter. Khawaja fell for 47 off 128 balls with 4 fours and 1 six to his name as Australia were 111/4 at this stage. Beau Webster joined Head at the crease now. Webster tried to get going but could not as Shamar Joseph once again struck and picked up his 4th wicket by bowling a ripper to go past Webster’s defence and hit the top of off-stump as he falls for 11. Australia were reduced to 123/5 in 44 overs when Alex Carey joined Travis Head in the middle.
After the Drinks Break in the afternoon session, there was an incident that happened in the 46th over. In the second ball of that over Shamar Joseph bowled to Travis Head and the batter tried to cut it away and got the edge to the keeper. The umpires got together and sent it upstairs. There was a spike on ultraedge. Then they checked whether the ball carried to keeper Hope. The TV umpire was not convinced and adjudged it NOT OUT which surprised all the West Indian players. Head got a reprieve one felt but the replays were inconclusive. Head was on 53* at this stage.
At the stroke of Tea, Jayden Seales struck as he got rid of keeper batter Alex Carey for 8. Carey cut the length delivery hard and the ball went flying to first slip where captain Roston Chase took a good smart catch to reduce Australia to 138/6 in 48.4 overs as umpires called for the Tea Break. Travis Head was on 59* off 76 balls at Tea and he will be joined by Pat Cummins when players return for the final session.
Jayden Seales wipes out the tail to complete his fifer; West Indies lose 4 at the close of play.
Captain Pat Cummins joined Travis Head at the crease at the start of a long final session. While Cummins hit a boundary straightaway, Travis Head was dismissed by Justin Greaves for 59 off 78 balls with 9 boundaries to his name caught behind. Australia were now 142/7 with Mitchell Starc joining Pat Cummins in the middle. Starc did not last long as Jayden Seales got into the act and picked up Starc for a duck. Justin Greaves at second slip took a good sharp catch. The Aussies were 143/8 at this stage with Nathan Lyon joining his skipper at this stage.
Pat Cummins decided to play shots as he knew Australia needed to add runs and get closer to 200 if they can. Just hanging in there won’t do the job. He played some good shots and luck went his way as well. He was taking on Jayden Seales as well hitting him for fours and sixes to add useful runs to the total. Jayden Seales in the end had the last laugh as Pat Cummins hit a length delivery straight to mid-off to Kraigg Brathwaite who took the catch. Cummins departed for a useful 28 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name. He had taken Australia to 170/9 in 54.4 overs with Josh Hazlewood joining Nathan Lyon at the crease.
Shamar Joseph could have got a fifer himself, but Brandon King at gully dropped his third catch of the day as Lyon got a reprieve. In the end, it was Jayden Seales who got his third five-wicket haul in his Test career as he picked the wicket of Josh Hazlewood for 4 caught behind as Australia were bowled out for 180 in 56.5 overs. Nathan Lyon remained unbeaten on 9 as 3 extras were given by the hosts.
Jayden Seales finished with 5/60 in 15.5 overs while Shamar Joseph finished with 4/46 in 16 overs. A wicket also to Justin Greaves and none for Alzarri Joseph or for skipper Roston Chase who bowled only 4 overs in the innings. Shamar cleaned up the top order while Seales cleaned up the tail.
In reply, West Indies got off to a shaky start. The openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell tried to weather the storm but they couldn’t really do it. Mitchell Starc drew the first blood as Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed for 4. Brathwaite got squared up and got the outside edge to Beau Webster at second slip who took a low catch as the hosts were reduced to 10/1 in 4.3 overs. Keacy Carty joined John Campbell in the middle and played his shots according to the merit of the ball. But John Campbell did not last long as he fell in the 7th over of the innings as Starc got his second scalp of the innings. It was a full delivery outside off which Campbell looked to drive away from the body and got the outside edge to Alex Carey as West Indies were reduced to 16/2 in 6.4 overs. Debutant Brandon King came in to join Keacy Carty at the crease.
The duo started to rescue the innings and steady the ship by hitting boundaries and rotating the strike. Slowly, a partnership was being built between the two batters in the middle as the Australians kept on hunting for more wickets. Pat Cummins the captain was keeping it tight and giving nothing away and he got his reward soon. Cummins broke the budding partnership as he got rid of Keacy Carty for 20 off 40 balls with 2 boundaries to his name. It was a back of a length delivery that swung away and got the edge of Carty through to Carey as West Indies were reduced to 52/3 in 16 overs. Night watchman Jomel Warrican came out to bat at 5 after 36 run stand was broken off 56 balls.
The night watchman could last only two balls as Josh Hazlewood got into the wicket-taking act and got rid of Warrican for a silver duck. It was a length delivery on the off-stump, Warrican left a gap between bat and pad as the ball snuck through to clatter the top of off-stump. West Indies were now tottering at 53/4 in 17 overs. Captain Roston Chase came out to bat at 6 to join debutant Brandon King. The duo played out the last three overs carefully for the addition of 4 more runs to the tally as West Indies goes to close on 57/4 in 20 overs. Brandon King is batting on 23* off 31 balls while Roston Chase is on 1* off 10 balls. 2 extras given by the Aussies so far.
Only three bowlers used by Australia and it was the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Mitchell Starc picked out the two openers and has figures of 2/35 in 7 overs. Josh Hazlewood has figures of 1/13 in 7 overs. Captain Pat Cummins gave nothing away and has figures of 1/8 in 6 overs. No Nathan Lyon yet, he will definitely bowl on Day 2 for sure. West Indies trail by 123 runs with 6 first innings wickets in hand.
What Lies Ahead.
After an action-packed opening day where ball dominated the bat, we are set for an intriguing second day. West Indies have work to do despite dismissing Australia for 180 as they have been reduced to 57/4 in 20 overs with the top order back in the hut. They will want partnerships from the middle and lower middle order and get the first innings lead. Australia will want to make further inroads and blow West Indies away and get a first innings lead themselves. One feels it will be a tussle for the first innings lead between the teams.
It will be interesting to see how the pitch plays and how the weather plays out. Here’s hoping there is no rain in Barbados and we get a full fascinating day like the first day. The match is evenly poised with maybe a slight advantage to Australia. But things can change in a jiffy. Let’s see how things pan out in the second day’s play.
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