Starting the day with a bad news is never a good omen. Unfortunately for West Indies, they had the misfortune of dealing with spearhead Jerome Taylor missing the day 2 of their ongoing test against Australia due to hip problems. He sustained a hip injury while playing for the first day and left the field after playing for only 9 overs. On the first day of test, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. The fielding team tried their best to restrict the Aussies to 350 or less runs, but they managed to secure 480 runs for the loss of 8 wickets before declaring. The West Indies are already missing Ramnaresh Sarwan who had injured his back and was unavailable for play at the first day too.
The Aussies declared on day 1 just before tea and openers for West Indies, Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath started the defending attack by managing 41 runs for no loss at tea. The Australian captain Ricky Ponting surprised all by declaring 35 minutes prior to tea but the West Indies openers brought live action to the otherwise sleepy day. Gayle started building his form by sending 3 balls flying towards the boundary for four. In taking a single on one occasion, Gayle seemed to be sustaining an injury to his leg but with no serious issues, he returned back to his form.
Newbie Barath was uneasy at his start and almost managed to survive a run-out while grabbing his first single, but soon got his feet firm on the ground and sent a delivery dashing towards the boundary. The same over, he nearly missed being sent away by Brad Haddin’s flying attempt to a catch. Marcus North was calm on the field and secured 79 runs before being dismissed by Dwayne Bravo who shined through the first day by dismissing 3 Aussies. Sulieman Benn also successfully sent away 2 Aussies with Taylor, Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul grabbing single wickets on day 1.
What turned the charts around for the West Indies was the maiden 50 by Nathan Hautitz from 90 balls. Earlier on, Hautirz was dropped at 5 on the second-clip and the mistake cost a lot. Having secured a significant total, the Australian team declared on 480. As on day 2, Gayle made a significant 31 from 43 balls before being dismissed for an LBW (Leg Before Wicket) in the over of Ben Hilfenhaus. None of the other batsmen have been able to achieve any significant 2 figures with Barath managing only 15 from 38 balls. Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul was dismissed for a mere 2 runs and Bravo for a duck facing only 2 balls.
Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson have managed a wicket each with Johnson having the best economy so far at 2.50. As it looks from the current status, with 88 runs on board for a loss of 4 wickets, it seems the West Indies are heading for a neat follow-on.
