New Delhi: The pacers dominated the opening day of the first Test match between West Indies and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 25. The Caribbean side produced one of their most dominating bowling performance against the 2023-25 World Test Championship runners-up.
Jayden Seales picked up his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket, while Shamar Joseph also took four wickets. But the momentum disappeared after the hosts got off to a poor start with the bat. Mitchell Starc removed the openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell early in the innings.
Keacy Carty batted well and played a few good shots, but was dismissed by skipper Pat Cummins on 20 runs, while Josh Hazlewood removed Jomel Warrican on a duck as the Windies stumbled to 57/4 at stumps.
Earlier, Australia opted to bat first but the decision backfired quickly as their batters struggled against the fiery West Indian pace attack. The pitch had enough movement for the fast bowlers as the visitors were bowled out for 180.
Shamar Joseph moved the ball both ways at the start and removed Sam Konstas (3) and Cameron Green (3) cheaply. Jayden Seales dismissed Josh Inglis with a short ball. Roston Chase dropped Usman Khawaja on 6, and he capitalised on the opportunity. The opener stitched an 89-run partnership with Travis Head for the fourth wicket to stabilise the innings.
Shamar dismissed Khawaja on 47 while Justin Greaves removed Head on 59, which opened the gates for the hosts. The Windies kept taking wickets at the regular interval with Seales producing a sensational spell. Cummins played a great cameo in the end, scoring 28 runs off 18 balls with the help of three boundaries and one maximum. Seales finished with 5-60 in 15.5 overs, while Shamar finished with 4-46.
The Windies batters also struggled against Australia’s world-class fast bowling attack on a two-paced surface. After losing four wickets, debutant Brandon King showed composure with an unbeaten 23, while captain Roston Chase remained unbeaten on one at stumps.
