West Indies vs. Australia, 1st Test, Day 3: Highlights, Scorecard, Report
Australia wrapped up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over the West Indies in the first Test match, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-game series.
A rampant Mitchell Starc tore through the hosts’ lower order in Dominica, helping skittle them out for just 216 in the second innings. It left Australia with a meagre target of 47 to chase, which they knocked off before the close for the loss of just one wicket.
As noted by Fox Sports News, debutant Adam Voges earned man-of-the-match honors for an excellent unbeaten 130 in the first innings:
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Resuming on 25 for two with a 170-run deficit to make up, the West Indies needed an almighty effort to turn this match around.
| Darren Bravo | c Warner | b Hazlewood | 5 | 46 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Dowrich | c Watson | b Hazlewood | 70 | 252 | 185 | 5 | 1 |
| Samuels | c Starc | b Johnson | 74 | 250 | 184 | 7 | 1 |
| Blackwood | st Haddin | b Lyon | 12 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Ramdin | b Lyon | 3 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Holder | not out | 12 | 50 | 27 | 2 | 0 | |
| Taylor | lbw | b Starc | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bishoo | b Starc | 1 | 23 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gabriel | b Starc | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Extras | 0nb 1w 11b 10lb | 22 | |||||
| Total | all out (86.0 ovs) | 216 | |||||
| Johnson | 15.0 | 3 | 38 | 2 | |||
| Starc | 18.0 | 7 | 28 | 4 | |||
| Hazlewood | 16.0 | 7 | 17 | 2 | |||
| Lyon | 24.0 | 7 | 67 | 2 | |||
| Smith | 2.0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |||
| Watson | 7.0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Voges | 2.0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |||
| Clarke | 2.0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Things didn’t start too well for the hosts, as Darren Bravo was dismissed for just five. It was a wicket that left West Indies 37 for three and struggling to avoid an innings defeat. But to their credit, an excellent partnership between Shane Dowrich and Marlon Samuels hauled the Caribbean Islanders back into the match.
While it was slow going, the pair put on 144 runs for the fourth wicket, and as noted by CricBuzz, they had Australia under some overdue pressure, as they went past the score needed to make the tourists bat again:
But they were about to undergo a remarkable collapse. Indeed, the dismissal of Dowrich, who made 70 off 185, prompted a sequence of subsequent wickets. Jermaine Blackwood was next to go for just 12, and when Samuels was prised out for 74 in the very next over, Australia exposed the Windies' tail with the score at 198 for six.
Up to this point, it had been an admirable, all-round effort from the Aussie bowlers, with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson chipping with two wickets a piece. But Starc really took a grip of this game after Nathan Lyon bowled West Indies skipper Dinesh Ramdin.
The left-armer was handed the second new ball and carnage ensued, pinning Jerome Taylor in front in the 82nd over before bowling both Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel in the 86th; he finished up with figures of four for 28.
The Australia team’s official Twitter account summed up Starc’s impact perfectly:
His influence meant that the Windies had gone from 181 for three and looking to put Australia on the back foot to 216 all out. At the end of a chaotic finale to the innings, the end result was that the tourists needed just 47 to wrap up the first Test match with roughly 45 minutes remaining in Day 3.
| S Marsh | not out | 13 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 0 | |
| Warner | c Darren Bravo | b Taylor | 28 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 2 |
| Smith | not out | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Extras | 1nb 0w 0b 0lb | 1 | |||||
| Total | for 1 (5.0 ovs) | 47 | |||||
| Taylor | 3.0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |||
| Gabriel | 2.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
From the very first over, it was pretty clear the Australians fancied a weekend off, as noted here by ESPN Cricinfo:
While the boisterous David Warner did lose his wicket for a quick-fire 28 from 23 balls, his hitting ensured Australia would wrap this one up inside three days, and it was left to Steve Smith to knock off the winning runs.
Winning captain Michael Clarke paid tribute to the West Indies for their fighting spirit before singling out Voges and his bowlers for special praise, per ESPN Cricinfo:
"I thought West Indies fought exceptionally hard. Credit to our bowlers, they found a way to take wickets on this slow pitch. Our bowlers stuck at it and our fielding was really good.
The way Warner and Marsh batted, you will see more aggression in Jamaica. Voges is class act and he rightly deserves the opportunity and I think with that maturity and experience, he has grabbed it with both hands.
"
There were moments for both teams to take encouragement from after this match. For Australia, any Test victory on the road is an impressive one, and uncovering Voges, though he is 36 years old, could prove to be a major positive with the Ashes series edging ever closer.
As for the Windies, while they don’t have the quality to go toe-to-toe with this Australia team, with a bit more composure in critical moments in the match, they could have made this clash a lot closer. Hopefully they’ll have learnt some crucial lessons for the second leg in Jamaica and we’ll be treated to a much more competitive affair.
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