Dowrich, Samuels bat grittily to defy Australia

Roseau: West Indies’ Marlon Samuels plays a defensive stroke off Australia’s pacer Josh Hazlewood in the first Test at the Windsor Park Stadium on Friday.—AFP

ROSEAU: Shane Dowrich and Marlon Samuels battled grittily to defy Australia as the West Indies reached 97 for three in their second innings at lunch on the third day of the first Test at the Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica on Friday.

Despite a fourth-wicket partnership that has so far managed 60 runs -- the best of the match so far for the home side -- there is still much work to be done heading into the afternoon session with a first innings deficit of a further 73 runs to be erased before the Caribbean team can even entertain the prospect of setting their opponents a challenging victory target in the latter stages of the match.

In his first Test match, Dowrich’s unbeaten 31 was an admirable effort given the state of the match, the condition of a wearing pitch and the perseverance of the Australians in seeking to turn the screws on a West Indies side that looked completely deflated at the end of the second day when Adam Voges’s debut unbeaten hundred swung the match completely around.

Samuels, the most experienced West Indian player following the omission of Shivnarine Chanderpaul ahead of this two-match series, will resume in the afternoon on 26. As is his wont, the elegant right-hander punctuated long periods of defiance with fluent strokeplay, occasionally taking on the challenge presented by frontline spinner Nathan Lyon.

They came together after Dowrich lost his overnight partner, Darren Bravo, to an excellent diving catch by David Warner at mid-off as the left-hander attempted a lofted drive off Josh Hazlewood 20 minutes into the day’s play. For a player of his experience and given the state of the match, it was a poor shot, notwithstanding the continued excellence of the Australians’ catching in this match.

Both had their narrow escapes in surviving to the interval.

Australia claimed a catch at short-extra cover by Lyon offered by Dowrich, however television replays proved inconclusive and umpire Aleem Dar’s initial impression that the chance had not been clean taken was upheld.

In the penultimate delivery before lunch, Samuels came within half-a-second of being stumped off the bowling of Shane Watson as wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, standing up to the medium-pacer, whipped off the bails just an instant before the batsman absent-mindedly lifted his back foot from the crease.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES (1st Innings 148)

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings 318)

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (overnight 25 for 2)

K. Brathwaite b Starc15

S. Hope c Clarke b Johnson2

D. Bravo c Warner b Hazlewood5

S. Dowrich not out31

M. Samuels not out26

EXTRAS (B-11, LB-6, W-1) 18

TOTAL (40 overs, 3 wickets)97

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21 (Hope), 2-21 (Brathwaite), 3-37 (Bravo).