West Indies seized four crucial wickets during the evening session on day two of the first Test against Australia.
First Test, Bridgetown (day two of five)
Australia: 180 (Head 59, Khawaja 47; Seales 5-60) and 92-4 (Webster 19*; S Joseph 1-15)
West Indies: 190 (Hope 48, Chase 44; Starc 3-65)
Australia lead by 82 runs
Australia eked out an 82-run lead with six wickets in hand after a compelling day of Test cricket against the West Indies in Bridgetown.
The tourists, who were dismissed for a mere 180 on Wednesday, found themselves trailing by 10 runs after the West Indies responded with 190 in their first innings.
Australia then faced further setbacks, losing early wickets in their second innings to slump to 65-4, before Travis Head and Beau Webster combined to steer the team to the close of play.
Head remained unbeaten on 13 from 37 deliveries, while Webster adopted a more assertive approach, reaching 19 from 24 balls, as they forged a crucial partnership through eight challenging overs.
Australia will commence day three on 92-4, relying on Head and Webster to extend their lead to a more substantial total.
Following a day one which saw 14 wickets fall, the West Indies resumed their first innings on 57-4 and soon lost Brandon King, bowled by Josh Hazlewood for 26.
Wicketkeeper Shai Hope joined captain Roston Chase, and the pair added 67 runs before the latter was controversially adjudged lbw to Pat Cummins for 44, despite suggestions of an edge onto his pads.
The West Indies then lost wickets at regular intervals before being bowled out, with a late flurry from Alzarri Joseph securing a slender 10-run lead. Hope top-scored with 48.
Mitchell Starc, who spearheaded the Australian bowling attack with 3-65 in the West Indies’ first innings, anticipates a continuation of the fluctuating pattern.
Reflecting on the West Indies’ batting performance, he said: “They had a partnership in the middle and played pretty well, but the bowlers have been in the game and no doubt it will be the same tomorrow.”
“There were a couple that stayed low and a couple that popped up. It will be interesting to see how it changes on Friday.”
Addressing the contentious dismissal of Chase, Starc added: “We can only ask the questions and then it goes to the officials. One of those went against us and a couple went against the West Indies.”
“It is only the end of day two so there is still a lot of time. We will try and get as many runs as we can and hopefully it is a total we can defend as bowlers.”
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