ROSEAU (Dominica): Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo bamboozled the Australian batsmen, picking up three wickets as the West Indies dominated the first session on day two of the first Test on Thursday.

Bishoo collected the prize scalps of Steve Smith (25), Shane Watson (11) and Brad Haddin (8) as the Australians limped to 153 for six at lunch in Dominica.

Bishoo’s dismissal of Haddin, clean bowled by an almost unplayable delivery, brought comparisons with Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ which bowled Mike Gatting exactly 22 years ago to the day.

Australia, who dismissed the West Indies for 148 on Wednesday, had an overall lead of five runs with four first-innings wickets in hand.

Test debutant Adam Voges survived the opening session to advance to 45, with Mitchell Johnson on 14.

Bishoo’s prodigious turn on the dry pitch tied the Australian batsmen in knots at times.

He went into lunch with figures of four for 59 off 20 overs, within sight of his career-best Test haul of five wickets in an innings.

The 29-year-old from Guyana struck early when he had Smith stumped by a country mile after the batsman had added only eight runs to his overnight score.

Two overs later Bishoo sent Watson packing when the right-hander edged a sharp chance which Jason Holder snapped up at second slip.

But the best was yet to come from Bishoo after Australian wicket-keeper Haddin took the fight to his adversary by hoisting him over long-on for six.

Bishoo got revenge two balls later with a delivery that pitched on leg stump and turned sharply past the prodding bat of Haddin to clip his off peg.

The ball did not turn quite as far as former Australian great Warne’s famous delivery to Gatting at Old Trafford, but it was more than enough to beat Haddin.

On Wednesday’s opening day, pace bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Johnson took three wickets apiece as Australia grabbed the last seven wickets for 63 runs after lunch.

Hazlewood claimed 3-33, Johnson took 3-34 and fellow left-armer Mitchell Starc chipped in with 2-48 as the tourists routed a home side whose top scorer was Shai Hope with 36.

The home team, after winning the toss, enjoyed a solid enough start, reaching 63-1 midway through the first session but Australia produced a disciplined performance with the ball and was spectacular in the field, prompting a West Indies collapse either side of lunch — with five middle-order wickets being lost for 28 runs.

After lunch, the wickets continued to tumble as Hazlewood bowled debutant Shane Dowrich (15) off the inside edge and soon added the scalp of Jermaine Blackwood to a second slip catch.

Hazlewood then contributed a well-judged catch at fine leg to pouch Marlon Samuels’ top-edged hook off Starc as the hosts slumped to 91-6.

Jason Holder and captain Denesh Ramdin rallied to add 30 for the seventh wicket. But Johnson returned to bowl Ramdin off the inside edge and the tail failed to wag.—Agencies

Scoreboard WEST INDIES (1st Innings): K.C. Brathwaite c Haddin b Hazlewood 10 S.D. Hope c Marsh b Johnson 36 D.M. Bravo c Clarke b Lyon 19 S.O. Dowrich b Hazlewood 15 M.N. Samuels c Hazlewood b Starc 7 J. Blackwood c Clarke b Hazlewood 2 D. Ramdin b Johnson 19 J.O. Holder c Marsh b Starc 21 J.E. Taylor c Voges b Smith 6 D. Bishoo not out 9 S.T. Gabriel c Clarke b Johnson 2 EXTRAS (W-1, NB-1) 2 TOTAL (all out, 53.5 overs) 148 FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-63, 3-75, 4-85, 5-87, 6-91, 7-121, 8-133, 9-144. BOWLING: Johnson 13.5-2-34-3 (1nb); Hazlewood 15-7-33-3 (1w); Starc 15-5-48-2; Lyon 6-1-20-1; Watson 3-1-11-0; Smith 1-0-2-1. AUSTRALIA (1st Innings, overnight 85-3): D.A. Warner c Blackwood b Taylor 8 S.E. Marsh c Bravo b Holder 19 S.P.D. Smith st Ramdin b Bishoo 25 M.J. Clarke c Ramdin b Bishoo 18 A.C. Voges not out 45 S.R. Watson c Holder b Bishoo 11 B.J. Haddin b Bishoo 8 M.G. Johnson not out 14 EXTRAS (NB-5) 5 TOTAL (for six wkts, 58 overs) 153 FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-38, 3-61, 4-97, 5-112, 6-126. TO BAT: M.A. Starc, N.M. Lyon, J.R. Hazlewood. BOWLING (to-date): Taylor 13-0-36-1 (3nb); Gabriel 11-3-28-0 (2nb); Holder 10-2-21-1; Bishoo 20-4-59-4; Samuels 4-1-9-0.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015

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