The West Indies kept the pressure on Australia on the third day of the first Test in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Monday, with the tourists restricted at the close to 248 for five in 95 overs.
Skipper Michael Clarke (73) was the backbone of Australia’s batting as they labored in reply to the West Indies’ 449 for nine declared.
Resuming on their overnight total of 44-0, Australia suffered an early setback when West Indies skipper Darren Sammy struck twice to remove both openers.
Photo: AFP
Sammy’s nagging line outside off-stump finally teased Ed Cowan (14) into an edge to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh and then Sammy struck again with a similar delivery to Dave Warner (42), who found Darren Bravo at second slip.
The home team certainly smelt blood when Ricky Ponting was run out for 4 after Shane Watson hesitated while calling his partner for a second and left the former Australia captain stranded.
At 84 for three, Australia needed to get their heads down, and Watson and Clarke ground out 49 runs in 18.2 overs before lunch.
Photo: AFP
That set a possible foundation for the experienced pairing, but Watson needlessly chased the second ball from Kemar Roach after lunch, gifting Baugh another catch as he departed for 39.
Sammy was disappointed when Clarke, on 27, was given out caught behind off Devendra Bishoo, but had the decision overturned on a review showing little of a conclusive nature.
Clarke took advantage of the reprieve and put on a patient 82-run partnership with Mike Hussey for the fifth wicket, but the hard work was undone when the Clarke unwisely tried to go over the top against Bishoo and found Narsingh Deonarine in the deep.
It was a needless shot and although Hussey (47 not out) and Matthew Wade (19 not out) saw it through to an early close because of bad light, Australia have plenty of work to do on the fourth day.
Clarke, was disappointed with the way he got out, but believes his team can still win the Test.
“I think Michael Hussey and I were building a pretty good partnership, maybe it was a lapse of concentration, I got done in [the] flight, so it was a pretty good ball from Bishoo, but once you are in, you have to make the most of it, and go on and get big scores,” Clarke said.
Clarke said his batsmen had been restricted by some smart bowling by their opponents on a surface which was starting to help the bowlers.
“I thought all the West Indies bowlers did a fantastic job on a wicket that has probably deteriorated a little bit, there is a little bit of inconsistent bounce,” he said. “We are going to have to bowl better than we did in the first innings and make as many runs as we can in this innings. I certainly think we can still win the Test match from here.”
For the West Indies, looking an improved unit so far in this series, the key is clearly to try to finish off Australia quickly.
“Early wickets will be crucial tomorrow,” Sammy said. “Five wickets today was good, but there is still a lot of work to do.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but