Australia vs. West Indies, 2nd Test, Day 2: Windies Left with Mountain to Climb
The second day of the second Test at the MCG couldn’t have gone must worse for the West Indies, who failed to take a single Australian wicket with the ball.
Then, facing an intimidating first innings total of 551, which including two unbeaten tons from Steven Smith and Adam Voges, the Caribbean Islanders slumped to 91-6 with the bat.
Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon and James Pattinson all took two wickets apiece for the hosts as Jason Holder’s men once again wilted meekly.
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So with what appears to look like another innings win for Australia on the cards, let’s took a look at the takeaways from the second day of this Test.
En Voges
After the disappointing Ashes campaign, it was expected that Adam Voges, who managed just 201 runs in England, might well be one of the casualties.
However, the 36-year-old has recently shown the qualities that made him the leading scorer in last year’s Sheffield Shield competition.
Voges’ relatively untroubled innings of 106 not out at the MCG was his fourth century of the year and helped him pass 1,000 runs just 206 days into his Test career.
The West Indies will be particular sick of the sight of the laidback right-hander whom they’ve only managed to dismiss once in five innings and currently averages 542 per innings against them.
As the Baggy Greens try to build a new-look, younger side, the calm, reassuring presence of the Western Australian is important.
Disappearing Key Men
Before this tour began, it was clear that for the West Indies to have any chance of matching their heavyweight opponents, their most experienced players would have to contribute.
However, the likes of Marlon Samuels (62), Kemar Roach (35) and Denesh Ramdin (72), who have played 169 Tests between them, have endured nightmares so far.
Samuels and Ramdin have each scored just 12 runs in three innings and registered ducks in their first innings at the MCG, and as reported by the Advertiser, the former has received criticism for his efforts so far.
Roach, one of the Windies' most senior paceman, has struggled to find his lines. returning disappointing figures of 0-97 at Melbourne to go alongside his 0-99 at Hobart.
Smith Continues Stellar Year
The pressures of captaining Australia don’t seem to have affected Steven Smith, who scored his sixth ton of the year and, in the process, became the leading scorer in Test cricket for 2015.
With his curious stance, the 26-year-old is far from pleasing on the eye, but his style is clearly effective, as evidenced by a Test average of more than 56.77.
Surprisingly, his latest innings, an unbeaten 134, contained just eight boundaries but took just 177 balls, emphasising Smith’s running between the wickets and ability to place the ball into the gaps.
Assuming his side go on to win this match, Australia will remain unbeaten under Smith’s watch, winning five of the eight Tests he’s overseen.
Men Against Boys
In this series, Australia have scored 1,134 runs for the loss of just seven wickets compared to the West Indies' meagre haul of 462 total runs at the cost of 24 wickets.
The visitor’s highest partnership so far is the 99 between Darren Bravo and Roach, while the Baggy Greens have registered three 200-plus partnerships, including the record-breaking fourth-wicket effort of 449 between Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges in Hobart.
Every single Aussie bowler has managed to take at least one wicket, with Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson taking seven each.
In contrast, Jomel Warrican is the Windies' leading bowler with three victims. His captain, Holder, has yet to take a single wicket.
This incredible disparity between the sides' statistics shows the gulf in class, and the prospect of this match and the forthcoming clash at the SCG being close contests seems slim.
What Next?
We are just two days in, but it would be a real surprise if anything other than an innings victory for Australia is the end result in this game.
The modern-day trend is to avoid enforcing the follow on, but given the light workload of his bowlers, Steven Smith will surely ask the West Indies to bat again.
With the Caribbean Islanders’ batsmen seemingly lacking the mental strength or technique to combat their hosts' attack, much to the chagrin of the accountants, another three-day finish is on the cards.
All stats from ESPN Cricinfo.
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