Australia managed to sneak past a resilient West Indies batting line-up to record victory at Perth by a heavy margin of 164 runs in the first Test of the summer. The Caribbean men kept their mighty opposition at bay for the best part of four sessions to post an impressive final-innings score of 333. But still fell way short of the hosts.
In many ways, this was one of Calypso Kings’ more encouraging performances with the bat in hand in the recent history of Test cricket, as they reached near the 350 mark in the fourth innings after posting a healthy 283 in the first essay.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite led from the front with a gutsy 110 off 188 deliveries at the top of the order against one of the best attacks in the world. The stoic right-hander backed his admirable 64 in the first innings with another disciplined and intelligent effort against the new ball to set himself up for a long haul in the middle.
His opening partner and debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul, also built on his gains from the first innings fifty with a fighting 45 in the second half. But once Australia broke past the Brathwaite-Chanderpaul stand, they ran through the visitors’ brittle middle order, with no one withstanding the quality of the bowling at their disposal.
That, until a rearguard stand between lower-order men Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph, who made scores of 55 and 43, respectively, at No.8 and 9 to frustrate the much-fancied hosts. Eventually, though, the home side ramped home by ending the Chase-Joseph stand and running through the batters down at No.10 and 11.
Nathan Lyon was amongst the wickets for Australia again in the second-innings of a Test at Perth, enjoying the rough nature of the surface that had four days of burnout, on his way to figures of 6 for 128 off 40.5 overs. He was ably supported at the task by part-timer Travis Head, who picked up 2 for 25.
Seamers Mitchell Starc (1/65) and Josh Hazlewood (1/52) picked up a wicket apiece in an all-round effort from Australia that was needed in the absence of injured skipper Pat Cummins, who was the pick of the seamers in the first essay, taking 3/34. Starc had also taken three scalps on Day 3, finishing with 3 for 51.
Like the second innings, the Windies failed to pounce on the opportunity to build on a magnificent opening stand provided by Brathwaite and Chanderpaul as their middle-order failed to give a strong account of themselves once again. There were thirties from Jermaine Blackwood (36) and Shamarh Brooks (33) but little of real substance on the whole.
West Indies’ bowling was equally disappointing on a surface where their pace-heavy attack was expected to find some help and put the hosts under some pressure. But that didn’t happen, which meant Australian batters enjoyed their time out in the middle, with Marnus Labuschagne heading the pack and backing his first-innings double ton with a superlative second-innings century.
The great Steve Smith, too, filled his kitty with a marathon double century in the first half of the game, where Head missed out on a ton after being dismissed 99. Usman Khawaja (65) in the first innings and David Warner (48) in the second also bagged some runs under their belt before the next Test.
1-0 up in the series, the hosts will be going for the kill in the second Test in Adelaide, which is a day-nighter with the pink ball.
Brief scores
Australia 598/4 dec (Labuschagne 204, Smith 200*; Brathwaite 2/65) & 182/2 dec (Labuschagne 104*, Warner 48; Roach 1/30) beat West Indies 283/10 (Brathwaite 64; Cummins 3/34, Starc 3/51) & 333/10 (Brathwaite 110; Chase 55; Lyon 6/128) by 164 runs
