Australia
History Beckons
The Windies closed the fourth days play of the Tgird and final Test in Bridgetown on 235/3 needing a further 240 runs to pull off what would be the greatest 4th innings run chase in history. However, with captain Chris Gayle, Xavier Marshall and Ramnaresh Sarwan back in the hut, and with Sewnarine Chattergoon limping on crutches, victory is at best a remote prospect.
Earlier in the day, Australia had piled up a mammoth 474 run lead after declaring at lunch on 439/5 with Simon Katich making 157 and Phil Jacques 108. Sulieman Benn was the leading bowler for the Windies, taking 3/154 off a mammoth 47 overs. After lunch, Marshall opened in place of the injured Chattergoon and with Gayle, put on 64 for the first wicket before Gayle got out playing a reckless cross batted pull shot. Marshall, who was dropped on 1, made the most of his reprieve and blasted a career best 85, surpassing his previous first-class best of 53, made in the previous Test. Sarwan (43) and Marshall put on 95 runs for the second wicket before Sarwan fell lbw to the offspin of Michael Clarke. Dwayne Bravo then joined Shiv Chanderpaul at the crease and the two have so far added 54 for the fourth wicket.
Bravo finally got some 'luck' as after being given out at least twice in the series to phantom catches as a batsman and also twice being denied wickets as a bowler due to umpiring errors, he was given not out after he apparently gloved a delivery from Brett Lee to the keeper. Lee almost had Bravo again when a yorker appeared to be plumb lbw, but the umpire turned down the appeal. Bravo made the most of his unexpected fortune and took on Lee in a classic confrontation between fast bowler and batsman that left the crowd oohing and ahhing. Lee, despite some excellent fast bowling to Bravo, was unable to dislodge him and when the Windies had piled up 235/3 at the end of the day's play, suddenly the unthinkable win in chasing 475 somehow seemed plausible. And with only 240 runs needed on the final day, barring rain, its either going to be an Aussie win or a Windies win. Batting out the day will almost certainly bring the 240 runs needed for victory.Read more
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The Anchor
[image from Digicel's Match gallery]
After bowling out the Australians for a mere 251, the Windies failed to capitalise on the advantage they had as they managed a mere 216 in reply on the second day of the Third Test at Bridgetown. Once again, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the anchor of the innings. Chanderpaul was left undefeated on 79 as the last 6 wickets fell for 48 runs. It was the kind of pathetic batting display that Windies fans have long hoped to see the end of.
The innings got off to a shaky start with openers Chris Gayle (14) and Sewnarine Chattergoon (6) falling cheaply. Gayle and Chattergoon were playing their first match in the series due to injury. Sarwan fell shortly after at 64/3. Xavier Marshall played some good drives in his 39, but one felt he was too aggressive and that his dismissal was always imminent. Dwayne Bravo joined Chanderpaul and they rebuilt the innings, taking the total from 108-4 to 168-5 when Bravo was caught down the legside. Bravo's dismissal was the correct decision (this time), and was definitely ironic given Bravo being given out in the last Test in a phantom legside catch decision and the umpires' giving Aussie Andrew Symonds twice not out to legitimate legside catches off Bravo's bowling in this series.
At Bravo's dismissal, the wheels came off the innings as the Windies tail was simply out of their league. Some like Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor played horrible shots. Some like Fidel Edwards got deliveries that were simply too good for them.
With a deficit of only 35 runs, all is not lost for the Windies, but they will have to once again depend on their bowlers to get them back in the game, as their batsmen, save the dependable Chanderpaul, make the most of the advantage they gained after dismissing Australia for 251. Chanderpaul, the anchor of the Windies' batting since the retirement of Brian Lara, has made scores of 118, 11, 107 n.o., 77 n.o. and 79 n.o. in this series. In fact, since Chanderpaul became the 'biggest bat' in the side on Lara's retirement, he has averaged 110.45 with 5 centuries and 8 fifties in the 11 Tests he has played. And that against opposition the likes of England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and now Australia. Is there any doubt that Chanderpaul is one of the all time great West Indian batsmen?
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Windies Hunt Series Tying Win
The Windies limited Australia to 226/7 after sending in the Aussies on a bouncy Kensington Oval pitch. Dwayne Bravo (3/48) and Jerome Taylor (2/44) shared most wickets as the Australian batsmen were peppered with quality fast bowling. Only Andrew Symonds (52) managed to add respectability to the Aussie total as the Aussies were reduced to 111/5.
However, the Aussies are only fortunate to be in the position they find themselves as Symonds for the second match in a row, was inexplicably given not out to a catch down the legside. As with the last test in Antigua, the ball clearly brushed his glove and the umpire refused to give him out. Symonds presumably is not a walker as it was quite obvious in both instances that he must have known that he should have been out. As with Antigua, the unlucky bowler was again Bravo. At the time Australia were 133/5 and Symonds' wicket would have been huge. As it is, the Windies will try to finish off the Australian tail early tomorrow. Brett Lee is at the crease so we should be treated to some fiery bouncers from Fidel Edwards tomorrow.
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Almost Over
Stuart Clarke (4/22) and Brett Lee (2/56) have removed the Windies' middle order to leave the home team limping at 117/6 at lunch. Denesh Ramdin (22*) and Darren Sammy (13*) are the not out batsmen. With the West Indies needing another 170 runs with only 4 wickets in hand, barring a near-miracle, Australia are on the way to winning the first Test.
UPDATE: The Windies went down to defeat by 95 runs, having been bowled out for 191.
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Windies on Fire!!
The Windies shocked the visiting Aussies late in the day by taking 4 quick wickets to leave the Aussies reeling at 17/4 in their second innings. Earlier the Windies had battled to 312 due largely to a fantastic 118 by Shivnarine Chanderpaul a half century from Runako Morton 67 and a dashing 46 from Dwayne Bravo. Chanderpaul's innings provided the impetus for the fightback as he was hit on the back of his helmet by a Brett Lee bouncer, seemingly knocked out cold, only to get back up again and notch his 18th Test century.
Facing a deficit of 119 runs on first innings, Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell bowled with accurate pace and controlled aggression to slice off the Aussies' top order. Phil Jacques might as well been Failure Jacques today as Edwards had him caught behind for 4 following his first innings score of 9. Powell then took the big wicket of the captain Ricky Ponting when Ponting pushed uncertainly forward and gave a catch to the slips at 10-2. It was soon 12-3 when Simon Katich was trapped plum by a fast delivery from Edwards. It soon got worse for the Aussies as Mike Hussey was clean bowled at 12-4 by an excellent Daren Powell delivery. Panic must have ran through the Aussie dressing room as they sent in a night watchman in Mitchell Johnson. When the umpires offered the light at 17-4 the Aussie batsmen gladly accepted the offer.Read more
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West Indies vs Australia, Day 2 - Aus 431, WI 115/3
Andrew Symond's 70 take Australia to 431 as Fidel Edwards shines with the ball, taking 5/104. Brenton Parchment struggles on debut, scoring 9 in 2 hours as Runako Morton and Shiv Chanderpaul look to rebuild the Windies innings after they lost two quick wickets to fall to 78/3.
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West Indies vs Australia, Test 1 Day 1 - Aus 301/4
A big hundred for Ricky Ponting. The Windies struggle in the field with only Fidel Edwards consistently troubling the batsmen. With Jerome Taylor unable to play due to injury, the bowling makeup of only two fast bowlers in Daren Powell and Edwards shows its inability to take consistent wickets as the Aussies methodically build a big total. Medium pacers Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy as well as debutante offspinner Amit Jaggernauth round out the bowling options. Powell however struggled to be effective, putting more pressure on the other bowlers. Jaggernaut showed promise for his first Test even though he only got one wicket. That was a beauty of a catch that Parchment took to displace Ponting.
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Bucknor Out
Steve Bucknor may have umpired his last Test match. And if indeed Bucknor's umpiring career is over, then it was a horrible way for one of the more respected umpires over the last 15 years to go out. Bucknor's reputation as an elite umpire has been steadily eroding as age caught up to him, but some of his decisions in last week's India-Australia Test shown in the video above were absolutely shocking. Malcolm Speed, head of the ICC has said that Bucknor would not be removed from future consideration from Test matches, but it is entirely possible that Bucknor would have umpired his last Test. That Bucknor has been removed is further evidence of the weakness of the ICC as it bowed to the wealthy Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Indians had threatened to withdraw from the remainder of the tour.
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Aussie Mind Games Destroy South Africa
The analysts will say that South Africa lost today's second semi final at the Beausejour stadium in St. Lucia inside the first 10 overs. After winning the toss, smiling and electing to bat, Graeme Smith could not have foreseen the carnage that was to follow as the South African top order were blown away to be reduced to 27/5 after 10 overs. The truth however, is that South Africa lost this match well before the match even started, as they apparently allowed verbal intimidation and the ghosts of their 1999 disasters against Australia to scramble their minds.
To understand what happened today to South Africa, one has to look back at the two encounters between South Africa and Australia in the 1999 World Cup. Back then, South Africa were the favourites to win the cup and had what was widely considered to be the best ODI team in the world. The two teams met twice in the 1999 edition.Read more
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All Conquering Aussies Reduce Kiwis To Minnows
Matthew Hayden made his third century of the tournament.
Australia 348 New Zealand 133
At least the West Indies didn't lose to Australia this bad. Not even Scotland lost to them this bad.Read more
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