West Indies collapse hands Australia impetus at tea

West Indies wasted an encouraging start on a benign pitch to be dismissed for 148 in their first innings on the opening day of the first Test against Australia at the Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica on Wednesday.

The hosts lost their last nine wickets for just 85 runs on the stroke of tea in the first of two Tests.

Fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson led the rout with three wickets each on a surface that held few terrors for the batsmen. Fellow pacer Mitchell Starc chimed in with two scalps as the bowlers were complemented by excellence in the field, Australia captain Michael Clarke leading the way with three catches in the slip cordon.

His West Indies counterpart, Denesh Ramdin, may be regretting the decision to bat first on winning the toss but the continuous clatter of Caribbean wickets had as much to do with indisciplined batting as aggressive, persevering bowling.
Ramdin himself was the seventh wicket to fall in the midst of the afternoon capitulation, a hopeful 30-run partnership with Jason Holder ended by the pace and accuracy of Johnson.

Despite an encouraging platform at 63 for one -- the only casualty at that point being Kraigg Brathwaite to a catch at the wicket off Hazlewood -- the home side slipped into deep trouble by losing five wickets for 28 runs either side of the lunch interval.

Experienced left-hander Darren Bravo took 14 deliveries to get off the mark and was just getting into stride when an attempt to play a forcing shot through the off side produced an outside edge for Clarke to snare an excellent catch at slip, giving Nathan Lyon his first wicket and leaving him three away from surpassing Hugh Trumble as Australia's most successful ever Test off-spinner.

Shai Hope, Brathwaite's opening partner, played a few expansive drives but chased one wide delivery too many off Johnson for Shaun Marsh to take the diving catch at gully and send the batsman back to the pavilion for what proved to be the top score of 36.
Shane Dowrich was the first wicket to fall on the resumption after the interval, playing on to the disciplined, persevering Hazlewood, who then promptly removed Jermaine Blackwood to another Clarke catch.

Marlon Samuels, the most experienced West Indies player following the omission of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, played with exaggerated care for 40 minutes only to fall to a top-edged hook off Starc for just seven, the irrepressible Hazlewood judging the catch well at fine leg.

Adam Voges, Australia's 11th oldest debutant in the traditional form of the game at the age of 35, had his moment of the day in taking an excellent diving catch to account for Jerome Taylor off the leg-spin of Steve Smith, a day after the part-time bowler's 26th birthday.
Source: AFP