The first day of the first Test between the West Indies and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, was a thrilling ride, with both teams’ fast bowlers having a field day in the middle.
Australia won the toss and decided to bat first on Wednesday, June 25. The pacers had some seam movement, which Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales took advantage of. Shamar, who had a spectacular debut series against Australia last year, extended his excellent form against the Baggy Greens, dismissing 19-year-old Sam Konstas in the fourth over of the day to give the hosts their first breakthrough.
Justin Greaves caught Cameron Green at second slip, making him Shamar’s second victim of the day.
Seales joined the party in the 16th over, dismissing Josh Inglis, who attempted to pull a delivery to break the shackles but only got a top-edge that was securely caught by wicketkeeper Shai Hope.
At 22/3, Australia desperately needed a partnership, and left-handers Usman Khawaja and Travis Head delivered. They batted in opposite styles, keeping the West Indies bowlers at bay. Head’s aggressive approach kept the scoreboard going, while Khawaja provided a sense of serenity to the combination.
They tallied 89 runs before Shamar removed the opening hitter for 47 off 128 balls. Beau Webster’s innings ended when he received a peach of a delivery from Shamar, who was on fire at the time. The ball struck the deck and went away, missing Webster’s defence and rattling the stumps.
Alex Carey chased down a wide delivery from Seales, and new West Indies Test captain Roston Chase, who had lost a chance earlier in the day, dove to his right and collected a spectacular catch at first slip.
Head made a valiant half-century before edging one to Hope off Greaves’ bowling. The southpaw scored 59 off 78 balls. Mitchell Starc exited without scoring as Australia fell to 143/8 from 111/3 at one point.
Pat Cummins counter-attacked with 28 runs off 18 balls, including three fours and a six, before Australia were bowled out for 180. Seales finished with 5/60, and Shamar took four wickets for 46 runs. Greaves also contributed with the key wicket of Head.
The West Indies openers took a cautious approach, but Kraigg Braithwaite’s vigil at the crease was broken by a pearler from Starc. The right-handed hitter was caught in his crease, and the ball was thrown in the corridor of uncertainty, seaming away to induce a thick outside edge towards second slip. The ball dipped on its way to Webster, but he did well to crouch low and catch it with both hands in front of him.
Fellow opener John Campbell made a forgettable return to the West Indies team, poking at a wide delivery and becoming Starc’s second victim. Keacy Carty and Brandon King persevered, scoring 36 runs off 56 balls. However, Pat Cummins delivered a magnificent delivery to dismiss Carty for 20 off 40 balls.
Jomel Warrican did not bowl an over in the first innings, but he was assigned the nightwatchman job. However, the left-arm spinner was only able to bowl two deliveries before being dismissed by Josh Hazlewood with a nip-back. Chase partnered King in the middle, and the two took the home team to Stumps on Day 1. The West Indies concluded at 57/4, 123 runs behind Australia’s total from the first innings.
The game is intriguingly poised and has the potential to be a fiercely contested match. The first hour of play will be critical on Day 2.
India
