Australia continued to pile on the misery for West Indies on Day 2 of the opening Test of the two-match series in Perth on Thursday.
Middle-order giants Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, who had joined hands at the crease last afternoon with Australia comfortably placed at 152/2 after the fall of the in-form Usman Khawaja (65), had taken the hosts to a position of dominance at 293/2 at stumps on Wednesday. Labuschagne continued his magnificent rise at the Test level with a century to his name, while Smith helped his way to a freeflowing half-century.
The two players built on their gains on Thursday morning, with the inexperienced and not-so-skilful West Indies bowling attack beginning to tire out in a phase where the tourists perhaps went through the motions a little bit. Labuschagne took perfect advantage of the same and went on to record his second double Test hundred, finishing 204 off 350 balls in a marathon knock.
The right-hander fell just prior to the lunch interval while at the other end Smith posted his 29th Test hundred in what has been a period of his career where the great player hasn’t quite been at his very best but has continued to be a flesh in the thorn for the oppositions. He didn’t settle there, however, and filled his kitty with a double century of his own.
At 402/3, Smith found another able ally in the form of left-hander Travis Head, whose magnificent run in Test cricket in home conditions continued with a blistering 99 off 95 balls, aimed to give Australia enough time and sizeable score for the rest of the attack before they could declare.
That declaration, notably, arrived one ball after Smith reached his unbeaten double in just 311 balls as Head missed out on a well-deserved century of his own, getting bowled off the part-time spin of Kraigg Brathwaite.
The West Indian attack looked short on skill and gumption for most parts of the Australian first-innings, allowing each of the home team batters bar opener David Warner to get into their work at the crease with ease and comfort and the likes of Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith and Head reprimanded them for the same.
None of their specialist seamers looked like imposing himself as Kyle Mayers (1/39) and Brathwaite (2/65) proved to be the only saving grace to some extent. That meant that Australia could dominate their way to an intimidating score of 598/4 before declaring with a 25-over burst with the ball up their sleeves for the close of Day 2.
There was a wave of expectation that the ruthless Aussies would run through the hapless West Indies top six. But the tourists’ solid opening pairing of skipper Brathwaite and his debutant partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul thwarted the hopes for the much-vaunted home team pace attack.
The duo of Brathwaite and Tagenarine kept the mighty Australians at bay in an inspiring opening stand of 74 runs that lasted 25 overs till the stumps. While Brathwaite persisted with his tried and tested mantra of defending the good balls and tiring the opposition attack into submission towards 18 not out off 79 balls, Tagenarine took his chances from time to time and put the pressure on Pat Cummins & company throughout his unbeaten 47 off 73 deliveries.
Australia would’ve been a little disappointed not to have gotten a few wickets as they would’ve aspired to at the end of their innings. But with a mountain of 524 more runs remaining, they still hold all the aces for this Test match.
Brief scores
West Indies 74/0 (Chanderpaul 47*, Brathwaite 18*; Lyon 0/6) trail Australia 598/4 dec (Labuschagne 204, Smith 200; Brathwaite 2/65) by 524 runs
