ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA: Scott Boland grabbed three wickets in his opening over to leave a rattled West Indies on 38-4 and facing a heavy defeat in the second Test Saturday as the world’s top-ranked team zeroed in on another victory to seal the series.
After the visitors were dismissed for 214 on day three of the pink-ball clash in Adelaide, in reply to the hosts’ 511-7 declared, Australia called time again at 199-6 in their second innings.
It left the Caribbean side needing 497 to win, but they meekly surrendered under the lights to the line and length of Boland, in the side in place of an injured Pat Cummins.
He removed Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood in six sizzling balls without conceding a run — two caught and one lbw — to leave West Indian hopes in tatters.
Boland, who ended with 3-9, last played in the Ashes campaign on home soil a year ago, snaring an incredible 6-7 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, highlighting the depth of Australia’s bowling stocks.
Mitchell Starc then enticed a nick from Tagenarine Chanderpaul (17) with wicketkeeper Alex Carey collecting as they crawled to stumps, still 459 runs adrift, with Devon Thomas and Jason Holder at the crease.
After the West Indies succumbed in their first innings on the cusp of the day’s first break, Australian skipper Steve Smith opted not to enforce the follow on, conscious of his bowlers’ workload with three Tests against South Africa ahead.
Cummins and Josh Hazlewood both missed the Adelaide clash with injuries picked up in the first Test at Perth that the hosts won by 164 runs. Instead they batted again with quick runs clearly the intent.
Openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja made fast starts, but spinner Roston Chase halted their progress.
Warner dragged Chase’s first ball onto his wicket and departed for 28, then Khawaja was caught behind by Joshua Da Silva for 45 in the same over. That brought Marnus Labuschagne and Smith together and they slammed 21 runs off one Brathwaite over.
Labuschagne was finally undone by Anderson Phillip, caught at gully by Chase for 31, ending his two-Test series with 501 runs after a double century and two centuries. Smith’s luck ran out on 35 after Thomas took a catch by the ropes, leaving Travis Head to blast 38 from 27 balls before the declaration.
– Starc on fire –
The West Indies had resumed their first innings at 102-4, with Chanderpaul on 47. But in a horror start, he was run out in the opening over after a mix-up with Phillip. Chanderpaul prodded Starc and set off for a single but was sent back, with the bowler unleashing a direct hit after collecting the ball on his follow through.
Starc was on fire and in his next over sent Holder packing for a duck, the lanky batsman edging to Carey. But Phillip and Da Silva put up resistance with a 60-run stand that was finally snapped by veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, the most successful bowler ever at the Adelaide Oval after surpassing Shane Warne’s 56 wickets on Friday.
He trapped Da Silva lbw for 23, with Phillip then run out for 43, again after an amateurish mix-up, this time with Chase. Lyon dismissed Alzarri Joseph lbw to end with 3-57 before Starc removed Chase for 34.
