Australia’s James Pattinson appeals successfully for the wicket of South Africa’s Hashim Amla (not in picture) during the fourth day of the third cricket test match at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, March 4, 2014 in this file picture.
Advertisement
James Pattinson has taken 4 five-wicket hauls in his career, three of which have come during the month of December.
West Indies captain Jason Holder said the big loss wasn’t unfamiliar to him or the team.
After Adam Voges’ unbeaten 269 and Shaun Marsh’s 182 led them to 583 for four declared in the first innings, Australia bowled their visitors out for 223 and 148 for a comprehensive win.
Bravo was able to hold out a little while longer working with Jomel Warrican, and brought up an unlikely Test century, but was caught by Nathan Lyon to become the West Indies’ ninth and final wicket to fall, Shannon Gabriel being absent hurt.
Incredibly, his knock, which totalled 64 per cent of his team’s entire second-innings output, was the highest-ever percentage of runs contributed by a West Indian in a completed innings in Test cricket history.
After a rain-enforced early lunch on the third day at Bellerive Oval, the West Indies were 35-5 in their second innings and 325 runs behind after Australian captain Steve Smith enforced the follow-on in the morning session.
Khawaja is back from a hamstring injury and has been added to the 12-strong squad that thumped the tourists by an innings and 212 runs in Hobart in the first of the three-Test series. And as Test matches go, this one was a good advertisement for the much more competitive BBL.
Australia squad for Sydney Test: Warner, Burns, Khawaja, Smith (c), Voges, S Marsh, M Marsh, Nevill, Siddle, Pattinson, Hazlewood, Lyon, Coulter-Nile, O’Keefe.
In the second innings, West Indies had the same problem as only one opener Kraigg Braithwaite caused resistance and none of the other top 6 batsmen entered double figures and soon West Indies were 30/5.
But Holder, who has the unenviable task of facing the media to explain the latest West Indies loss, was putting on a courageous face against the continuing Windies underachievement.
“I’m experiencing a little bit of knee pain that I experienced before the first Test in Brisbane”, Smith said after play today. Brathwaite, who had soldiered on manfully, was the last man out, bowled by Hazlewood six runs short of what would have been a well-deserved century. “It was three for 120 and the game was in the balance and those guys put on a terrific partnership and really set the game up for us”.
Smith will sit out of the opening two Big Bash League Twenty20 games for Sydney Sixers next week as a precaution as Australia faces nearly a fortnight’s break before the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “We need to be more disciplined… to spend more time in the middle”.
Advertisement
“It’s going to be hard to change but if Usman is fit and he comes back in then we have to change”.
