Australia finished day two of the Sabina Park Test in a commanding position after another frenetic day where 15 wickets tumbled, leaving West Indies struggling to stay afloat. With the hosts bowled out for 143 in their first innings, Australia managed to stretch their lead to 181 runs, even as West Indies’ pace attack clawed back under the lights.
West Indies Fight Back Under Lights
After Australia posted 225, West Indies were bundled out with their batters repeatedly undone by precise seam bowling. Scott Boland, brought in for Nathan Lyon, took 3 for 34 while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood shared four wickets. Though Australia earned an 82-run advantage, the real drama began as the floodlights took hold during their second innings.
Shamar Joseph struck early, removing Sam Konstas for a duck with a delivery that climbed from a short length. Konstas’ poor series continued, ending with just 50 runs at an average of 8.33.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚.
Usman Khawaja battled hard but chopped on against Joseph after laboring past 300 balls faced in the series. The big moment came when Alzarri Joseph cranked up his pace, delivering the fastest over of the series at 147kph. He eventually snared Steven Smith with a searing delivery after an earlier dropped chance.
Australia’s Batters Struggle in Tough Conditions
Travis Head and Cameron Green offered brief resistance. Head fell to a sharp slip catch after he and Green narrowly escaped a calamitous run-out, with Green eventually ending unbeaten on 42 in a gritty knock that was worth much more than the scoreboard suggested.
Alex Carey had a torrid time, first struck on the helmet by a bouncer that required repairs, then edging a wild drive to slip. Beau Webster was undone by a delivery that seamed late, leaving Australia 99 for 6 at stumps.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕,” 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”
Earlier in the day, West Indies had applied themselves during a cagey morning session. Brandon King looked assured before falling lbw to Hazlewood, while John Campbell survived a near run-out when the umpires controversially ruled no appeal was made, despite replays suggesting otherwise.
Roston Chase ground out 70 deliveries before edging Cummins, and Mikyle Louis played perhaps the worst shot of the innings, swiping across the line to leave his team at 95 for 5.
Despite missed chances from Carey behind the stumps, Australia kept tightening the screw. Scott Boland produced a delivery that nipped past Shai Hope’s inside edge, and Justin Greaves was run out brilliantly by Konstas returning for a third run.
As the Test heads into day three, Australia hold a significant advantage, but the unpredictable conditions under lights mean the match remains wide open.
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