Day 2 of the Barbados Test once again saw ball dominating bat. After 14 wickets fell on Day 1, 10 fell on Day 2. In the end, Mitchell Starc‘s three-wicket haul alongside his other bowlers kept West Indies down to 190 with the hosts getting a 10-run lead and then Australia have gotten themselves to 92/4 in 33 overs at close with a lead of 82 runs.
Roston Chase and Brandon King resumed for West Indies but King soon fell for 26 to Josh Hazlewood. Then Roston Chase and Shai Hope played out the morning session and put on 67 for the 6th wicket to move West Indies forward. But captain Pat Cummins bowled an incisive spell to get rid of Chase to trigger a collapse. Alzarri Joseph’s 23 off 20 balls ensured West Indies get a slender 10-run lead.
In reply, Australia got off to a cautious start. Sam Konstas survived a few dropped catches while Khawaja scored 15 and he was the first to go. Konstas fell soon after while Cameron Green and Josh Inglis put on 23 for the third wicket. Green scored 15 and Inglis 12. Australia were 65/4 but the unbeaten stand between Travis Head and Beau Webster of 27* off 49 balls has taken the score to 92/4 in 33 overs. Webster is on 19* off 24 balls while Head is on 13* off 37 balls. A wicket each for each of the four pace bowlers used in the second innings. 13 extras already given by West Indies.
Roston Chase & Shai Hope solidify West Indies after Brandon King wicket in the morning sessionÂ
Roston Chase and Brandon King resumed for West Indies with the score reading 57/4. There were some anxious moments to start the day. Roston Chase survived a close LBW call given NOT OUT by Nitin Menon. But there was a spike but TV umpire Adrian Holdstock did not proceed to ball tracking. Australia were confused.
Chase was then dropped by Sam Konstas off the bowling off Pat Cummins in the 22nd over at short leg. Alex Carey then dropped Brandon King when he was on 26 off Josh Hazlewood as Australia were sloppy in the field. But that did not cost Australia much as Hazlewood got rid of King for exactly 26 off 44 balls by knocking the stumps over. King shouldered arms to a back of a length delivery seaming in after pitching and the stumps were rattled. Poor judgement from the batter.
Shai Hope joined Roston Chase in the middle at the score of 72/5 in the 27th over. Both started to rebuild the innings and played their natural game. Hope was quick off the blocks while Chase did his bit as well. They nullified the Australian bowling to a degree and applied themselves beautifully.
Most of the bowlers faced the wrath of the duo as they built a nice partnership. Australia brought all their bowlers and that did not matter for the West Indies. Chase took on Lyon from time to time but they were mostly in control of proceedings. Both the batters played their natural game. The duo took West Indies to Lunch without further damage as the hosts went onto Lunch at 135/5 in 46 overs. Roston Chase was batting on 44* off 101 balls while Shai Hope was batting on 31* off 53 balls. It was a good morning session for West Indies.
Pat Cummins’ incisive spell triggers West Indies collapse as they lose 5/55 in the session
Shai Hope and Roston Chase resumed proceedings for West Indies after Lunch and the hope was to take the side past Australia and get a big lead. But Australia were not to be left behind and it was their captain Pat Cummins who came to the fore. It took 3.2 overs in the session for Cummins to breakthrough. He caught Chase plumb in front and although the West Indies skipper reviewed he found no luck and had to walk back for 44 off 108 balls with one four and one six to his name. This turned out to be the turning point as West Indies collapsed from here and it was Pat Cummins who was doing it again. West Indies were 6 down for 139 with Justin Greaves joining Shai Hope.
Justin Greaves’ stay was an uncomfortable one as he looked totally out of sync. He survived a caught behind appeal shout off Cummins via DRS. Hope continued to play his natural game at the other end. But the introduction of Beau Webster got rid of Greaves. Greaves chased the good length delivery outside off away from the body and got the edge to Alex Carey. West Indies were reduced to 153/7 in 55.2 overs. Alzarri Joseph came out to bat next. Joseph decided to play his shots while Shai was playing the anchor role and from time to time getting anxious as well.
Beau Webster then dealt a hammer blow to the West Indies as he got rid of the well-set Shai Hope for 48 off 91 balls. A brilliant catch from Alex Carey as Webster was doing the job for the Aussies. A fuller delivery that seamed in to Hope who tried to block it and got an inside edge to Carey who flew to his left and took a brilliant catch. Hope’s innings was laced with 5 boundaries. as West Indies were reduced to 162/8 at this stage. Shamar Joseph was the next batter in joining Alzarri Joseph.
Shamar came in and played two glorious shots off Beau Webster to get himself going. But Mitchell Starc was brought back into the attack and he struck by bowling a searing yorker tailing in and hit Shamar on the front pad which deflected back onto the base of off-stump. West Indies were 9 down for 171 still trailing by 9 runs when last man Jayden Seales joined Alzarri Joseph in the middle.
Alzarri decided to play his shots as the West Indies were desperate to get the first innings lead. He hit Josh Hazlewood for a six and a boundary and took singles of other balls to take West Indies into the lead. Later on, Nathan Lyon came into the attack and got the final wicket to fall as Jayden Seales hammered a tossed up delivery flat and hard straight to long-on for 2 off 13 balls.
Alzarri Joseph remained unbeaten on 23* off 20 balls as West Indies were bowled out for 190 in 63.2 overs. Alzarri had hit 2 fours and a six in the innings. Just 4 extras given by the Aussie bowlers All the Australian bowlers bowled well. Mitchell Starc was the pick of them with figures of 3/65 in 16 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with 2/41 in 18 overs.
Captain Pat Cummins finished with 2/34 in 18 overs. Beau Webster got a couple of wickets for 20 runs in 6 overs. While Nathan Lyon got the last wicket as he had figures of 1/28 in 5.2 overs. West Indies had a lead of 10 runs in the first innings and the umpires called for early Tea at this stage.
Australia lose 4 wickets to leave the Test match in balance at the close of play.Â
This Test match has practically been reduced to a one-innings Test match after the first innings cancelled each other out almost. Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja walked out to bat in the Australian second innings. Sam Konstas survived a few scares early on. He was dropped of Shamar Joseph as the fielder at third slip put it down. In the same over, a Konstas edge did not carry to the second slip as he was living dangerously.
Usman Khawaja on the other hand, got a bit of a start and was scoring the majority of the runs in the partnership. Konstas took 14 balls to get off he mark with a boundary. Khawaja was holding one end up and playing securely at this stage. Some extras through leg byes were scored from both batters.
It was Alzarri Joseph who broke the opening stand as he wrapped Usman Khawaja in front for 15 off 22 balls. Khawaja reviewed but it was umpire’s call on hitting wickets. Australia were 27/1 in 8.4 overs. Cameron Green came in at 3 to join Konstas. Konstas did not last long as he was cleaned up by Shamar Joseph for the second time in the Test match. Konstas departed for a pain-staking 5 off 38 balls to leave the Aussies at 34/2 in 11.2 overs. Josh Inglis came in and joined Cameron Green in the middle.
The duo tried to forge a partnership to take Australia forward in challenging conditions. There was a mix up in the middle between the duo but they survived. Green tried to play his natural game. Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves were bowling rippers but the two Aussie batters were surviving by getting beaten outside off.
Green got dropped and survived a DRS call by reviewing himself off the bowling of Seales. But Australia’s luck finally ran out when Jayden Seales knocked over Josh Inglis for 12 off 33 balls. The ball jagged back after pitching, Inglis leaves it alone and sees the ball hitting the top of the off-stump. Another bad judgement by the batter as Australia were reduced 57/3 in 21.4 overs. Travis Head joined Cameron Green in the middle.
The duo tried to build a partnership but could not quite do it. Green survived another close LBW shout against Greaves as the TV umpire went in favour of Australia. But his luck soon ran out as Justin Greaves got into the act and got rid of Green. It was a short of a good length delivery outside off-stump, Green looked to get behind the ball as the ball seamed into him. He threw his hands at it to get the outside edge through to Roston Chase the captain at first slip who made no mistake. Green departs for 15 off 47 balls with 2 boundaries to his name as Australia were 65/4 in 25 overs and were in a spot of bother.
Beau Webster joined Travis Head at the crease to make sure that the Aussies do not lose further wickets. Webster came out all guns firing and played some delightful shots. He was extravagant at times, but he weathered the storm. He hit Greaves for two boundaries in the 29th over of the innings bowled.
Travis Head settled down and was an anchor at one end holding the innings together while Webster was the aggressor of the two. West Indies tried hard to get another breakthrough and hit Travis Head’s index finger, but it was not to be for them. In the end, the duo played out the remaining overs and took the score to 92/4 in 33 overs with a lead of 82 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Travis Head is batting on 13* off 37 balls while Beau Webster is batting on 19* off 24 balls. 13 extras given by West Indies and the partnership is worth 27* off 49 balls for the 5th wicket.
West Indies used four bowlers in the final session of the day. All 4 were pacers and all of them took a wicket each between them. Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, Alzarri Joseph and Justin Greaves all have a wicket each to their column. What a fascinating Test match this has been and it’s all to play for when Day 3 commences.
What Lies Ahead
After 24 wickets have fallen in the first two days, Day 3 is set to be action-packed and exhilarating like the first two days. Australia have a lead of 82 runs with 6 wickets in hand ending at 92/4 on Day 2. Their aim will be to get the lead past 200 and that will put the pressure on the West Indies. The pitch isn’t going to get easier and will only get challenging as the game progresses.
West Indies, on the other hand, will look to get early wickets and skittle out Australia to as low score as possible. They won’t want the tail to wag. They would like to chase under 200. Ideally, they would like to chase somewhere around 150 knowing their fragile top order. This match is still in the balance and it’s very hard to predict a winner at this stage.
The first session will be crucial for both teams as is the norm and whoever wins that session will go a long way in winning this clash. Can West Indies continue to punch above their weight and deliver the knockout punch to Australia? Or will Australia show their class and win against all odds through their bowlers? Only time will tell as a fascinating Day 3 i.e. moving day awaits us all.
Also Read: WI vs AUS: Records Galore After Jayden Seales’ 5 Wicket Haul & 14 Wicket Day 1