Australian bowlers outclass Windies batters to win the first Test
Australian and West Indies teams engaged in a thrilling red-ball contest at Barbados. The team from down under wrapped up the match in three days, which was a bowler’s dominant match. West Indies bowlers started the part,y but the experienced Australian trio took home the first match.
Advantage for the hosts after the first innings
Australia were wrapped up on 180 in the first innings. Shamar Joseph took out key Aussie batters at the start of the innings. His bowling partner, Jayden Seales, took a fifer to restrict Australia to a low total. West Indies batters knew that they were up against one of the best bowling line-ups world cricket has ever seen.
Read Also: West Indies smash Ireland in high-scoring 3rd T20I
The visitors managed some early breakthroughs, but some resilience from the middle order helped the West Indies to take the lead after their first innings ended. West Indies batters posted 190 runs, 10 more than Australia. Roston Chase and Shai Hope were out in their 40s, but these runs were crucial in giving some hope to their bowlers. Mitchell Starc did the damage at the start and ended the innings with three wickets. Hazelwood, Cummins, and Webster took two wickets each. Lyon also got a wicket in the first innings.
Australian trio Head, Webster, and Carey stabilized the team’s batting effort.
After failing to get past 200 runs in the first innings, Andrew McDonald needed some response from his team in the next innings. Once again, the top order failed and Australia were 65 for four. Travis Head was joined by Beau Webster in the middle. This duo created a 100-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Head managed to score his 20th half-century in a test. Webster is new to international cricket. He has impressed with some cameo innings with the bat. The 31-year-old managed to reach his third fifty in red-ball cricket.
Head was the first player to go. He added 61 runs to the team total. Carey continued to add runs but lost Webster on 63. Australia managed to post 310 runs in the third innings. Carey was the best batsman in the second innings with a score of 65. This was his 10th fifty in test match cricket.
Shamar Joseph ended the innings with a fifer. This was his fourth in 18 innings. The 25-year-old took nine wickets in this test match.
Hazelwood troubles the host to take the first test
Australia posted a massive target of 301. West Indies had almost half of the test match to chase this target. Starc got the better of Brathwaite for the second time in this test match. This was enough for Hazelwood to get the signal. The 34-year-old demolished the West Indies batters and ended the innings with a five-wicket haul. Some batters tried to battle, but their innings were cut short by superb bowling. Shamar Joseph took charge at the bowlers with a 44-run innings in 22 balls. However, it was too late for the host team. Lyon also chipped in with two wickets to wrap up the innings. West Indies fell short by 159 runs.
