Australia Gain Edge Over West Indies with Late Wicket
Australia Gain Edge Over West Indies with Late Wicket
Brisbane (Australia) (AFP) - Australia managed to level the playing field by taking the late wicket of Tagenarine Chanderpaul on the second day of the second Test against the West Indies in Brisbane on Friday.

At stumps, the West Indies were 13-1, leading by 35 runs, after Chanderpaul was given out on review for a faint edge off Josh Hazlewood in the final over of the day.

Having bowled out the West Indies for 311 in their first innings during the day-night Test's mid-session, Australia mounted a lower-order recovery and declared at 289-9 in the night session, captained by Pat Cummins.

The decision paid off with the late dismissal of Chanderpaul.

Australia had a disastrous start to their first innings, falling to 24-4 and 54-5.

Kemar Roach, who took three of the first four wickets, stated that the inexperienced West Indies side wanted to prove themselves in Test cricket.

"They want to perform well against the number one team in the world, so the guys are up for the challenge," he said. "I'm pleased with the energy we displayed today, and it puts us in a fairly even position."

  • Carey Rescues Australia -

Following their poor start, Australia was rescued by an aggressive innings from wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who smashed 65 runs off just 49 balls.

"I feel like I responded well to what was bowled at me and played with positive intent," Carey commented. "It would have been nice to score a few more runs, but considering the difficult start, we are definitely in this game."

When Carey was dismissed with the score at 150, Australia still trailed by 161 runs, and the West Indies seemed poised to take a substantial lead into the second innings.

However, Cummins had other plans. Alongside Usman Khawaja (75), he guided Australia to 242 runs before Khawaja edged the ball to first slip, earning off-spinner Kevin Sinclair his first wicket in Test cricket.

Sinclair celebrated the dismissal with an elaborate display that included sprinting to cover, followed by a round-off and back somersault.

Khawaja's wicket signaled Cummins to intensify his attack. He swiftly climbed to his highest Test score of 64 runs, striking a balance between conventional cricket shots and more unconventional hits.

When Nathan Lyon was caught by wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva off Alzarri Joseph's delivery, resulting in Australia's ninth wicket, Cummins decided to declare and give his bowlers a 35-minute period under the lights to challenge the West Indies.

Earlier, Roach rattled the Australian batting order with three quick wickets, dismissing Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, and Travis Head before the dinner break, leaving Australia in a precarious position.

After hitting a boundary off Roach's delivery in the opening over, Smith was struck on the pad next ball, prompting a confident appeal from the West Indies. Umpire Nitin Menon gave a not-out decision, but the West Indies wasted no time in reviewing, and replays showed that the ball would have hit the middle stump, reducing Australia to 6-1.

In the next over, Labuschagne edged Joseph's delivery to fourth slip, brilliantly caught by Kevin Sinclair diving to his right. Australia found themselves at 11-2.

Green, attempting an ambitious drive off Roach, offered a simple catch to Kraigg Brathwaite at mid-off. Head, who scored an impressive 119 in the first Test, was dismissed for a duck, nicking a delivery down the leg side.

Mitchell Marsh added a quickfire 21 runs off just 19 balls, but on his 20th delivery, he mistimed a pull shot, resulting in a leading edge caught by mid-off, giving Joseph his second wicket and leaving Australia at 54-5.

However, similar to the West Indies' first innings, Australia's lower order staged a recovery, bringing them back into the game.

 

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