Day 3 which is called the moving day in the Test match turned out to be the final day of action in Barbados. As many as 16 wickets fell on the day with Josh Hazlewood leading the charge with a five-wicket haul helping Australia beat the West Indies by 159 runs to go 1-0 up in the series. The Test match was in the balance after the first two days, but Australia dominated Day 3 to finish things off.
Resuming at 92/4, Australia started solidly through Travis Head and Beau Webster. Both scored 60s before getting out and Alex Carey scored an aggressive 65 as well. The tail wagged with Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood getting double figures and taking the score to 310 and a lead of 300.
Chasing 301 on a difficult pitch was always going to be an uphill task for the West Indies and they folded up in the final session of play losing all 10 wickets. John Campbell scored 23 while Keacy Carty scored 20. Justin Greaves scored an unbeaten 38 off 53 balls. Shamar Joseph used the long handle and plundered 44 off 22 balls to reduce the margin of defeat.
In the end, West Indies folded for 141 in 33.4 overs. Josh Hazlewood was the star with 5 wickets. Nathan Lyon finished things off with 2 wickets in 2 balls in the end. A wicket apiece for Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. With the Test match done and dusted in 3 days, let’s recap the whole Test match as a whole.
Jayden Seales’ five-wicket haul and Shamar Joseph’s 4 wickets restricts Australia to 180.Â
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first on the first day, Australia got off to a shaky start losing their top order early. Sam Konstas, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis fell cheaply to be reduced to 22/3. Thereafter, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head put on 89 runs for the fourth wicket before Khawaja fell for 47.
Thereafter, wickets again fell without much partnership. Travis Head got to his fifty and top scored with 59 off 78 balls. Beau Webster got 11. Captain Pat Cummins got a useful and valuable 28 off 18 balls that pushed the score to 180 in 56.5 overs. Just 3 extras given by the West Indies bowlers.
For West Indies, Jayden Seales completed his third five-wicket haul and had figures of 5/60 in 15.5 overs as he cleaned up the tail. He was ably supported by Shamar Joseph who finished with 4/46 in 16 overs. With more luck, he could have got a five-wicket haul himself, but not to be due to dropped catches of his own bowling. The other wicket was taken by Justin Greaves who finished with 1/26 in 9 overs. No wickets for Alzarri Joseph in this innings.
Shai Hope and Roston Chase score important 40s as West Indies get a slender 10-run lead.Â
In reply, West Indies got off to a wobbly start themselves. They lost their openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell for low scores. Keacy Carty got himself to 20 off 40 balls while Brandon King scored 26 off 44 balls. Captain Roston Chase led from the front scoring 44 off 108 balls while Shai Hope looked fluent in his 48 off 91 balls.
West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals and looked in danger of not getting the lead. But Alzarri Joseph’s 23 off 20 balls made sure West Indies get a slender lead of 10 runs. They were eventually bowled out for 190 in 63.2 overs with 4 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a shared bowling performance from the Australian bowlers as they brought their team back in the match. Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/65 in 16 overs. Josh Hazlewood bowled well for his 2/41 in 18 overs.
Captain Pat Cummins gave nothing away and finished with 2/34 in 18 overs. Beau Webster stepped up by getting a couple of wickets for 20 runs in 6 overs. Nathan Lyon got the last wicket to fall as he finished with 1/28 in 5.2 overs.
Australia put in a solid batting display despite Shamar Joseph’s five-wicket haul.Â
Faced with a slight deficit of 10 runs, Australia once again got off to a shaky start courtesy of their openers. Usman Khawaja scored most of the runs in the 27-run opening stand before falling for 15 off 22 runs. Sam Konstas soon followed his opening partner back in the hut with another single-digit score.
Cameron Green made 15 off 47 balls while Josh Inglis scored 12 off 33 balls. Australia were reduced to 65/4 at one stage. But then came the match defining partnership between Travis Head and Beau Webster. Both complimented each other really well and put on 102 for the fifth wicket. Head finally fell for 61 off 95 balls scoring his second Test fifty of the match. Beau Webster added another 41 runs off 62 balls with keeper batter Alex Carey before falling for 63 off 120 balls.
Alex Carey was aggressive when Webster failed and Cummins joined him at the crease. He took on the bowling and added 39 off 26 balls with Cummins where the skipper scored 9. He further added 17 off 18 balls with Mitchell Starc where Starc scored 16 off 17 balls. He also added 27 off 53 balls with Nathan Lyon before falling for an entertaining 65 off 75 balls.
Carey’s innings was crucial that put Australia in a dominant position. Nathan Lyon remained unbeaten on 13 off 27 balls while Josh Hazlewood was the last man to be dismissed for 12 off 12 balls. Lyon and Hazlewood added 19 runs off 20 balls for the last wicket. 24 extras given by the fielding side as Australia were eventually bowled out for 310 in 81.5 overs.
Shamar Joseph was by far the pick of the bowlers for West Indies not only in the innings but in the whole Test match. He finished with 5/87 in 25.5 overs. Shamar finished with 9 wickets in the match. Shamar was ably supported by Alzarri Joseph who finished with 2/65 in 16 overs.
Jayden Seales finished with 1/70 in 18 overs. Justin Greaves finished with 1/55 in 13 overs. Roston Chase the captain got a wicket in his only over he bowled and that was a wicket maiden as well. No wickets for Jomel Warrican despite bowling 8 overs. West Indies fielding let them down big time as multiple catches were dropped in the Test match. On Day 3, Travis Head was given a reprieve early on in the proceedings. It meant West Indies had a mountain to climb needing to chase 301 on a deteriorating pitch batting 4th.
Josh Hazlewood’s five-wicket haul helps Australia skittle out West Indies in one session.Â
Chasing 301 for an improbable win, West Indies came out to bat on the final session of Day 3. Kraigg Brathwaite endured another failure as he fell to Mitchell Starc. John Campbell and Keacy Carty put on 43 for the second wicket with Campbell scored 23 off 31 balls and Carty scored 20 off 36 balls.
But once this partnership was nipped out by Hazlewood, the wickets started to fall at regular intervals. Brandon King, captain Roston Chase and keeper batter Shai Hope fell cheaply. Amidst all the ruins, Justin Greaves hung in there and remained unbeaten in the end on 38 off 53 balls.
Shamar Joseph came out and decided to entertain the West Indies crowd with his entertaining 44 off 22 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name. His innings reduced the margin of defeat for the West Indies. Otherwise, the hosts would have been bowled out for under 100.
Nathan Lyon came and picked up Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales in consecutive balls to seal the deal for the Aussies at the end of Day 3. West Indies were eventually bowled out for 141 in 33.4 overs with 5 extras given by the fielding side.
For Australia, Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/43 in 12 overs. Nathan Lyon came in the end and finished the match in two balls to finish with 2/20 in 2.4 overs. Captain Pat Cummins bowled well for his 1/15 in 7 overs. Mitchell Starc got the early wicket and finished with 1/44 in 8 overs. No wickets for Beau Webster who bowled 4 overs for 14 runs.
So, Australia win by 159 runs to go 1-0 up in the series and for his twin fifties in the Test match, Travis Head was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
Both teams will now head off to Grenada for the second Test match starting on July 3rd i.e. Thursday. Australia are 1-0 up and will be over the moon. They will look to drive home the advantage and seal the series in Grenada. For the West Indies, it will be a bitter pill to swallow as they competed with the Aussies for the first two days only to be outplayed on Day 3. Y
es, some umpiring decisions did not go their way but they did not help themselves by dropping multiple catches throughout the Test. So, a lot of areas to work on going forward and positives as well like Shamar Joseph’s bowling in both innings.
So, the stage is set for the second Test match and can West Indies recover and push Australia back? Or will the Aussies surge ahead and clinch the series with a dominant win in Grenada. For all the answers, we have to wait till 3rd of July i.e. Thursday for the Test match to commence.
Also Read:Â WI vs AUS: How The Feisty West Indies Attack Change The Complexion Of Match