Image Credit- CA
Although they were unable to secure a two-day victory
in Adelaide, Australia is not expected to take very long to secure a victory.
After Travis Head’s century from his hometown provided a useful lead on a
challenging surface against a determined visiting attack, Josh Hazlewood
mercilessly tore apart the West Indies top order.
They withdrew as pre-series forecast had indicated,
though with bat were had to earn their position of strength, from what had been
a fairly competitive match halfway through the day, with Australia six down and
still 20 behind. The match moved quickly, especially after Head turned on the
afterburners.
Even though Shamar Joseph finished off a great debut
for the West Indies by taking five wickets in the final session, the anxiety of
what might happen when the new ball was introduced was still present.
And so it proved to be; Hazlewood, who was 4 for 18
for the day, had eliminated the top four with only two runs conceded; in fact,
he had three wickets before he was even removed from the game. He hit the first
ball of the second innings, exposing Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s technical miscues
to Alex Carey with a slight edge. On a day when he could do no wrong, Head
snatched up a firm clip off the pads shortly after, making skipper Kraigg
Brathwaite feel a little unfortunate.
Australia had spent the DRS for a caught-behind
appeal, but Alick Athanaze handled a loose hook and burned a review. One of the
three debutants for the West Indies, Kavem Hodge, edged a drive to second slip
as the innings collapsed to 19 for 4.
After a lengthy counterattack that featured some
excellent strokeplay, particularly through the off side, Kirk McKenzie chipped
Cameron Green to cover. With forty minutes left in the day at that point, it
was not at all unlikely that Australia’s bowlers would easily finish the
remaining overs.
Joshua Da Silva and Justin Greaves, who had impressed
with his debut bowling, offered some resistance until Greaves fell on the last
ball of the day. Australia successfully reviewed for Nathan Lyon’s leg-by-leg
boundary when the ball struck leg stump from the surrounding area of the
wicket. Pat Cummins seemed to consider asking for an extra thirty minutes, even
though there was no guarantee the umpires would have given it, with West Indies
down by 22 runs.
Previously, Head was nearly solely responsible for
Australia’s lead. During the morning session, the West Indies had made
progress, and even after Carey caught up, they were still lagging behind.
However, Head quickly reached the nineties by scoring a barrage of runs off
Shamar Joseph, reaching his century from 122 balls when he hit left-arm spinner
Gudakesh Motie past the covers.
A few hours later, West Indies was barely making it
through the third day, but they had a chance to stay in the game.