Published: Jun 14, 2015, 10:52 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 14, 2015, 11:45 PM (IST)
The West Indian batting line-up have little clue of how to deal with the Australian fast bowling attack. The result of the match, which going to be in favour of Australia, is less the question than the competence of the batsmen to play the swing, get the defence solid and be proactive. At lunch on day four, Australia are just three wickets away from a huge win, having taken five wickets in the morning, largely through subtle swing, pace, and accuracy. At 71 for 7, they have avoided being bowled out for their lowest score against Australia — 51— but are on course for a big defeat. LIVE SCORECARD: West Indies vs Australia, 2nd Test, Kingston, Day 4
Mitchell Starc, who started the slide yesterday, catalysed the decay today by getting Shane Dowrich bowled off the fifth over of the day. Bravo, the most experienced of his team’s middle order, poked at a Josh Hazlewood delivery to undo all the grind he had done till now: he had played 49 balls for his 11. Hazlewood followed this up by cleaning Jermaine Blackwood up off his next over. The ball had swung in, but bizarrely, Blackwood played a loose drive without moving his feet, indicating his indecisiveness and meek surrender. LIVE BLOG: West Indies vs Australia, 2nd Test, Day 4 Kingston
Mitchell Johnson took the cue and put an end to Shai Hope’s labourious stay at the crease, with a length delivery on off stump, that went through the batsman’s defences. This brought Jason Holder to the crease, but he was unable to repeat his first innings’ attack, as he chipped part-timer Shane Watson to short mid-wicket.
West Indies’ captain Denesh Ramdin is still at the crease, but he looks jittery like the rest of his troops. The ball is arriving fast, and is swinging late. The end was predicted to be swift, ahead of this fourth day of the Test, and Australia have done their bit for an early finish.
Brief scores:
Australia 399 (Steven Smith 199, Michael Clarke 47; Jerome Taylor 6 for 47) and 212 for 2 (Shaun Marsh 69, David Warner 62, Steven Smith 54*; Kemar Roach 1 for 26) lead West Indies 220 (Jermaine Blackwood 51, Jason Holder 82*; Josh Hazlewood 5 for 38) and 71 for 7 (Denesh Ramdin 18*; Mitchell Starc 3 for 19) by 320 runs.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @bhejafryyy)
