Australia went to lunch on 123 for five as they struggled through a shortened first session on the fifth and final day of the second Test against West Indies at Queen's Park Oval on Thursday. Only 50 runs were scored in the 25 overs bowled as Australia extended their lead to 177 runs while losing two wickets.
A 45-minute delay, caused by a wet outfield, virtually ruled out any chance of a result other than a draw especially with just 30.4 overs bowled on Wednesday. Matthew Wade was 15 not out with Michael Hussey on 11 after Ricky Ponting (41) and skipper Michael Clarke (15) had been the batsmen dismissed.
The unlucky Fidel Edwards finally took his first wicket of the match in his 10th over of the second innings. A short ball to Ponting had him playing one of his favourite hook shots but he failed to keep the ball down. It went straight to Kieran Powell on the square leg boundary and Ponting was gone for 41 off 85 balls, an innings which featured three fours.
The highlight of the morning came in skipper Darren Sammy's second over. He had dropped a sitter at first slip earlier in the innings but now took an excellent catch off his own bowling to remove his opposite number Clarke. That reduced Australia to 95 for five and the lead only 149. Before play started, it was announced that Australian fast bowlers Peter Siddle and James Pattinson, who is playing in the current match, would be returning home with back injuries.
Siddle has had back soreness since the first Test in Barbados and scans have shown that he has early signs of a lower back bone stress injury. Pattinson has had acute lower back pain since day three of this Test but will bat at number eleven in Australia's current innings if needed.
The final Test starts in Dominica on Monday but Australia have two other pace men in their squad - Ryan Harris, who played in the first Test and left-armer Mitchell Starc who last played in the Perth Test against India in January.
Scoreboard Australia 1st innings 311 (M. Hussey 73, S. Watson 56; K. Roach 5-105, S. Shillingford 3-92) West Indies 1st innings 257 (S. Chanderpaul 94, N. Deonarine 55; N. Lyon 5-68)
======================================
Australia 2nd innings (overnight 73-3)
======================================
E. Cowan lbw b Roach 20
D. Warner c Bravo b Edwards 17
S. Watson b Roach 0
R. Ponting c Powell b Edwards 41
M. Clarke c & b Sammy 15
M. Hussey not out 11
M. Wade not out 15
--------------------------------------
Extras: (lb1, w1, nb2) 4
Total: (5 wkts; 55 overs) 123
======================================
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-26, 3-57, 4-93, 5-95
Bowling: Edwards 10-2-28-1 (1nb), Shillingford 21-4-44-0, Roach 15-4-31-3, Sammy 8-0-17-1 (1nb, 1w), N Deonarine 1-0-2-0
Toss: Australia
Match situation: Australia lead by 177 runs with five second innings wickets remaining.
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG), Marais Erasmus (SA)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)
Third umpire: Tony Hill (NZ).
(score incomplete)
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.