ADELAIDE: Debutant Shamar Joseph gave the West Indies some hope after taking two top-order wickets during Australia’s reply to the tourists’ first innings total of 188 in the opening Test in Adelaide on Wednesday.
Australia were 59-2 at stumps, with Usman Khawaja not out 30 and Cameron Green on six.
Australia were only 129 runs behind, but with key batsmen Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne back in the pavilion.
Earlier, Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and sent the West Indies in to bat on a cool and overcast morning, a decision that proved fruitful when the visitors were reduced to 133-9.
But Joseph, playing only his sixth first class match, gave the score some respectability with a breezy 36 off only 41 balls.
The best was still to come for the 24-year-old, who came on as first change and had Smith caught at third slip with his first ball in Test cricket. It was Smith’s first outing at the top of the order since taking over from the now-retired David Warner.
Joseph was not done, following the Smith wicket with that of Labuschagne, caught on the hook by Gudakesh Motie at deep fine leg to leave Australia 45-2.
Things could have been even better for the Windies had wicket-keeper Josh Da Silva not dropped Khawaja on one, a catch he should have taken.
Earlier, Josh Hazlewood took 4-44, including his 250th Test wicket, and Cummins 4-41 as Australia ran through the West Indies batting line-up.
West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul began sedately, content to leave as many balls as possible.
Cummins brought himself on in the 10th over with immediate results, a fuller ball enticing Chanderpaul into an expansive drive, only to slice the ball to gully where Green used all his height to take a comfortable catch.
Cummins then removed Brathwaite to leave the West Indies 27-2 after the first hour.
Alick Athanaze and Kirk McKenzie then steadied the ship and looked to take the West Indies to lunch at two down, but with the score on 52, Athanaze opted to leave a Hazlewood delivery only to see the ball cannon into his off stump.
Hazlewood continued after lunch with the wickets of Kavem Hodge (12), McKenzie (50) and Justin Greaves (5) to leave the West Indies reeling at 108-6.
That became 132-7 when Cummins had Da Silva caught at deep square leg for six, before one run later they lost both Motie and Alzarri Joseph.
But Shamar Joseph rescued the situation, showing no fear as he reached his highest first class score, with Kemar Roach offering solid support.
The West Indies needed to make an early breakthrough and they put the disappointment of dropping Khawaja behind them with the important wicket of Smith. There were some Australian nerves jangling when Labuschagne fell, but Khawaja and Green saw the home side safely to stumps.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES (1st Innings): K. Brathwaite b Cummins 13 T. Chanderpaul c Green b Cummins 6 K. McKenzie c Carey b Hazlewood 50 A. Athanaze b Hazlewood 13 K. Hodge c Green b Hazlewood 12 J. Greaves c Labuschagne b Hazlewood 5 J. Da Silva c Head b Cummins 6 A. Joseph c Smith b Cummins 14 G. Motie c Lyon b Starc 1 K. Roach not out 17 S. Joseph lbw Lyon 36 EXTRAS (B-12, LB-1, W-2) 15 TOTAL (all out, 62.1 overs) 188 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (Chanderpaul), 2-27 (Brathwaite), 3-52 (Athanaze), 4-98 (Hodge), 5-107 (McKenzie), 6-108 (Greaves), 7-132 (Da Silva), 8-133 (Motie), 9-133 (A. Joseph) BOWLING: Starc 12-5-37-1 (1w); Hazlewood 15-6-44-4; Cummins 17-5-41-4; Lyon 12.1-2-36-1; Marsh 2-1-5-0; Green 4-1-12-0 AUSTRALIA (1st Innings): S. Smith c Greaves b S. Joseph 12 U. Khawaja not out 30 M. Labuschagne c Motie b S. Joseph 10 C. Green not out 6 EXTRAS (NB-1) 1 TOTAL (for two wickets, 21 overs) 59 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-25 (Smith), 2-45 (Labuschagne) BOWLING: Roach 7-2-21-0; A. Joseph 7-0-19-0 (1nb); S. Joseph 6-1-18-2; Motie 1-0-1-0 UMPIRES: Adrian Goldstock (South Africa), Nitin Menon (India) TV UMPIRE: Sharfuddoula (Bangladesh) MATCH REFEREE: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
By AFP