West Indies have seized the initiative at the close of Day Two in Grenada, leaving Australia stuttering at 12 for 2 in their second innings with just a 45-run lead.
Leader of the pack Jayden Seales struck twice in a dramatic late burst after Brandon King’s maiden Test fifty and spirited lower-order resistance had kept the hosts firmly in the contest.
Australia, who began their reply with an awkward 35 minutes to navigate before stumps, now find themselves under real pressure after Seales removed both openers to undo much of their earlier hard work with the ball. Sam Konstas dragged on while trying to force a wide delivery through the offside before Usman Khawaja was pinned lbw by Seales from round the wicket, a dismissal which is becoming commonplace for the under-fire left-handed batter.
Cameron Green and nightwatchman Nathan Lyon, who took a blow on the arm in the tense final moments, are unbeaten on six and two respectively and saw the visitors to the close. They will resume tomorrow in a precarious position, building a slender advantage on a pitch with indifferent bounce and showing signs of life for the fast bowlers.
Earlier, West Indies clawed their way to within 33 runs of Australia’s first-innings total of 286, twice threatening to build a commanding platform at 111 for 3 and then 169 for 4. King (75) and Shai Hope (21) looked settled until Pat Cummins broke the stand, adding to his tally with a stunning caught-and-bowled to remove Keacy Carty — an athletic, diving effort that showcased the captain’s sharpness. The 30-year-old Jamaican fell twenty-five runs short of a maiden test century when he gloved a sharp Lyon off-break behind to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Though wickets fell steadily, Alzarri Joseph (27) and Shamar Joseph (29) threw the bat to good effect in a lively 51-run stand, while the last pair of Seales and Anderson Phillip survived ten valuable overs to drag the innings deep.
Josh Hazlewood and Cummins had earlier made swift inroads, Hazlewood striking immediately in the morning to dismiss Kraigg Brathwaite for a duck in his 100th Test — another low score in a series that has raised questions about the skipper’s form despite his historic milestone. Before this match, Brathwaite was averaging 19.33 across his last 12 test matches. For just the eighth time in Test history, both openers fell to return catches, with Cummins’ superb effort stealing the headlines.
Opener John Campbell injected some momentum with an enterprising knock worth 40 runs, including a pulled six off Hazlewood, before gifting his wicket by lofting Beau Webster to mid-on.By day’s end, though, it was Seales who turned the tide back in the West Indies’ favour, ensuring the Australians will start day three with little comfort and plenty to ponder under St George’s threatening skies.
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