Mitchell Starc struck early in his 100th Test match as the West Indies reached 16 for one in response to the first Australia innings total of 225 on the opening day of the day/night third Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Saturday.
Dismissed for a “duck” in an eventful final session as Australia slipped from 157 for three, Starc bowled West Indies debutant Kevlon Anderson off the inside-edge to raise his tally of Test wickets to 396.
Anderson and Brandon King found themselves with the task of defying the Australian bowlers operating under lights with the new pink ball after selected openers John Campbell and Mikyle Louis were injured in the field.
King and captain Roston Chase will resume on the second day with the West Indies, hoping that both Campbell and Louis will be fit to bat later in the innings as they seek a measure of consolation with the series already lost following defeats in the first two Tests in Barbados and Grenada.
Shamar Joseph again led the West Indies bowling effort with four for 33, lifting his tally to a series-leading 18 wickets.
Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves claimed three wickets each on a pitch offering considerable seam movement but still with enough in the surface to encourage the spinners, raising questions about the visitors’ decision to omit veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon in preference for an additional fast-medium bowler in Scott Boland.
Seven of the visitors’ top eight -all-rounder Beau Webster was the exception –got past 15, although none could carry on to the really big innings to put their side in a dominant position.
Turgid, almost tedious cricket defined the first two sessions, with Australia advancing to 138 for three by the dinner break.
However, a comparatively frenetic passage of play followed, triggered by the demise of Steve Smith for a top score of 48, as Australia lost their last seven wickets for 68 runs in 15 overs against the West Indies pacers.
Smith and Cameron Green (46) put on 61 for the third wicket in the one passage of play during the daylight hours when the bat threatened to dominate the ball.
“It was almost like he was batting on a different wicket,” Green said at the end of play in an appreciation of Smith’s positive innings. “I was really struggling out there, but clearly he is a class above.”
Despite the batting collapse in the final session, Green, who is still unable to bowl for at least another three months, was happy with his team’s position after day one.
“We just wanted to give them a tricky last 45 minutes at the end and to get them one down is really crucial,” he added.
An almost T20-style attitude to batting, typified by captain Pat Cummins’ consecutive sixes off Seales, was also a reflection of Australia’s eagerness to get as many runs as they could quickly in that final session to allow the bowlers a decent shot at the West Indies’ depleted top order under the lights.
That helter-skelter tempo at the end contrasted sharply with the pedestrian opening session, made exciting only by the antics of opener Sam Konstas.
He was almost run out by Campbell and then dropped at third slip by Anderson off successive balls from Seales before being trapped leg-before for 17 off the first ball bowled by Greaves.
Anderson, who replaced Keacy Carty, is one of three changes to the West Indies team from the second Test.
That match was Kraigg Brathwaite’s 100th in Test cricket and possibly his last, as he was dropped in favour of Louis for the series finale. At the same time, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican returned at the expense of fast-medium bowler Anderson Phillip.
Australia Playing XI
Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Konstas
West Indies Playing XI
Brandon King, Kevlon Anderson, Mikyle Louis, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Roston Chase, Jomel Warrican, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales
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