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| November 18, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 15, 1426 |
Hapless Windies struggle against Australia
HOBART, Nov 17: Australia seized immediate command of the second test with West Indies on Thursday, skittling the embattled tourists for a dismal 149 then wiping out almost half the deficit without losing a wicket.
Glenn McGrath captured four wickets while Brett Lee and Stuart MacGill grabbed three each as the Australian bowlers ripped through the brittle West Indian batting lineup after tea on the opening day.
The Australians then cruised to 60 without loss to reach stumps trailing by just 89 runs with Matthew Hayden making 31 not out and Mike Hussey unbeaten on 26.
West Indies, already 1-0 down in the three-match series after they were thrashed by 379 runs in Brisbane, showed none of the necessary fight needed to challenge the Australians as they collapsed to be all out inside 70 overs with the last seven wickets tumbling for just 30 runs.
“It was a pretty good batting wicket so we really thought it was going to be a hard day at the office but once we made a couple of vital breakthroughs the rest just happened,” McGrath told a news conference.
“Our game plan was just to remain patient, get the ball in the right areas and maybe do a bit of damage, so to knock them over for 149 was a bonus.”
Seven of the 11 West Indies players failed to reach double-figures and only Chris Gayle (56) and the captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (39) managed to make more than 15.
The visitors wilted under the relentless pressure applied by the Australian bowling attack.
“It was a bad day and we’re obviously very disappointed, but hopefully the guys can rebound tomorrow,” Gayle said.
“We do have the fight but we have to look at the way we’re getting ourselves out.”
McGrath dismissed Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan (2), Marlon Samuels (5) and Fidel Edwards (0) to finish with figures of 4-31 while Lee removed Devon Smith (4), Brian Lara (13) and Darren Powell (15) to take 3-32.
MacGill got rid of Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo (3) and Denesh Ramdin (2) in his 3-18.
Gayle initially retired on 18 after a recurrence of a minor heart problem that has troubled him for years but recommenced his innings after the lunch break and went on to post a half-century that featured seven boundaries and two sixes.
The Jamaican said he occasionally suffers from an irregular heartbeat and although the problem was not serious he was planning to have an operation after the series to fix it.
“It’s a little thing that’s been happening over the years,” he said.
“Sometimes I get an irregular heartbeat when I tend to perspire a lot, it tends to race a bit harder than normal but it’s nothing to worry about. I just felt a bit dizzy.
“This is not the first time it’s happened. It was just distracting my batting at the time so I had to come off.”
Australia’s openers rubbed more salt into the gaping West Indian wounds with a confident start that demonstrated just how good the Bellerive Oval batting surface was.
Hayden, who has scored centuries in his last three tests against England, the World XI and West Indies struck three boundaries while Hussey, playing in just his second test, also hit three fours to lay the foundations for Australia to build a massive total.
Scoreboard
West Indies (1st innings)
C. Gayle lbw b McGrath 56
D. Smith b Lee 4
R. Sarwan c Gilchrist b McGrath 2
B. Lara lbw b Lee 13
S. Chanderpaul c Hodge b MacGill 39
M. Samuels c Gilchrist b McGrath 5
D. Bravo c Hodge b MacGill 3
D. Ramdin c Warne b MacGill 2
D. Powell c Gilchrist b Lee 15
F. Edwards c Symonds b McGrath 0
C. Collymore not out 3
Extras (lb-3 nb-4) 7
Total (all out, 68.3 overs) 149
Fall of wkts: 1-15 2-26 3-60 4-119 5-119 6-124 7-126 8-130 9-141 10-149
Bowling: G. McGrath 23-9-31-4 (nb-1), B. Lee 13.3-6-32-3 (nb-2), A. Symonds 10-4-17-0 (nb-1), S. Warne 11-2-48-0, S. MacGill 11-3-18-3.
Australia (1st innings)
M. Hayden not out 31
M. Hussey not out 26
Extras (nb-3) 3
Total (for no loss, 18 overs) 60
To bat: R. Ponting, M. Clarke, B. Hodge, A. Gilchrist, A. Symonds, S. Warne, B. Lee, G. McGrath, S. MacGill
Bowling: F. Edwards 6-1-22-0, D. Powell 8-1-32-0 (nb-3), C. Collymore 3-1-6-0, D. Bravo 1-1-0-0.—Agencies
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