by Gaurav Vartak
The first two matches of the Frank Worrell series could not have been more in contrast. While Australia dominated the first match right from the first session, West Indies made sure that they were always a step ahead of the Aussies in the second.
The first match began a bit disconcertingly for the Aussies as they lost Shane Watson for a duck. Interestingly, this is the fifth time in the last six innings that Watson has been out leg before in front of the wicket. Seems like he needs to work on his tendency to shuffle across the crease. The rest of the batting line up came good however with four out of the next six batsmen chipped in with half centuries – Clarke and Haddin the only ones to miss out. To add to the misery of the West Indian bowlers, even Nathan Hauritz chipped in with his maiden test half century. For West Indies Dwayne Bravo and Sulieman Benn were the only bowlers who were consistent with Kemar Roach bowling some good spells but taking only one wicket. If West Indies had to stay in this match, they needed solid contributions from their Big Three – Gayle, Chanderpaul, and Bravo. But all three of them failed to make an impact with Gayle frittering away a start, and Chanderpaul and Bravo falling cheaply for 2 and 0 respectively. It was left to Travis Dowlin to bat through the innings. He managed to build two significant partnerships: one with Dinesh Ramdin, and another with Benn. Ramdin came up with a whirlwind knock that seemed to revive the West Indian hopes, but once the Aussies managed to get rid of him soon after he reached his half century, they had no trouble cleaning up the tail apart from Benn. The biggest mistake that Dowlin made was that he wasn’t able to assert himself once he settled down, and he let the Aussie bowlers get rid of the tail too easily. For the Aussies, Johnson and Hauritz were the most prolific bowlers picking up three wickets each. Following on, the West Indies weren’t able to do any better in the second innings, with young Adrian Barath the only batsman able to stand up to the Aussies onslaught coming up with his maiden test century in his debut test.
Going into the second test, the West Indies had very few positives to look at. Infact, apart from the century on debut be Barath, the West Indies had nothing going for them. And when they lost Gayle – after getting a start again – things looked positively bleak for them, and it would have been safe to predict another three day finish. But the West Indian middle order stood up for once to be counted, and Chanderpaul, Nash, and Bravo came up with fighting knocks to shore up the innings. Bravo in particular played a delightful innings to remind us as to why he is the best West Indian cricketer right now. The West Indian tail finally showed some spunk and were able to forge some useful partnerships with Brendan Nash – who was injured early in his innings and came back after the fall of Bravo’s wicket. The Aussie bowling was pretty listless, with Doug Bollinger, who was making his test debut, the only bowler who appeared lively. But apart from his early twin strikes, even he was not able to trouble the batsman. In reply to the West Indian total, the Aussies got off to a great start with Watson and Katich putting on 174 for the first wicket.
Once Watson got out, missing his century by 4 runs, the other batsman weren’t able to take advantage of the excellent batting track, and though there were many good partnerships, they eventually fell short by 12 runs. For West Indies, Benn was the most successful bowler with figures of 5 for 155. But Roach was not behind finishing with figures of 3 for 93. In reply, West Indies kept losing their wickets at regular intervals after most of the batsman getting off to starts. It might have been a familiar story for West Indies – brilliant in the 1st innings, ordinary in the 2nd – had it not been for a rear guard action by Chris Gayle. We had often seen Gayle get off to great starts in this series only to gift away his wicket. But his innings at Adelaide was very un-Gaylish shall we say. He hung in there even as the wickets kept tumbling around him, hitting the big shots when required. For the Aussies, Mitchell Johnson was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 103, but Bollinger once again impressed with his accuracy, his shenanigans nowithstanding. Needing 330 runs to win, Australia seemed to have decided to close the shop even before they cae into bat. Even though Katich went after the bowling, Watson seemed quite determined to avoid any needless mistakes. Once Katich got out, the Aussies well and truly seemed to give up any aspirations of going after the target; something which we have rarely witnessed in this decade. From there on the match seemed to be headed towards a tame draw before Bravo brought it back to life with a 3-wicket burst. But, that was all the excitement that was provided for the crowds as Clarke and Haddin ensured that there were no more hiccups. Australia finished the second innings at 212 for 5, with Clarke and Haddin the unbeaten batsman at the crease; all in all not the result that one expected, but not an undesirable result either.
Now with one match to go what should we expect from the two teams at Perth for the third Test? Perth has always been Australia’s stronghold, but it isn’t as quick as it used to be. This should provide the West Indies with some respite. But they will still be worried about their inconsistent showing in the second innings, and the lack of penetration in their bowling. On the other hand, their main batsman all seemed to be in form, or nearly in form. The Aussies face similar problems to the West Indies: lack of penetration in their bowling. Johnson bowled decently in both the innings, but he conceded runs at an alarmingly high rate for a strike bowler. And with Siddle doubtful for the last test, their bowling worries have added up. The only silver lining for them has been the debut of Doug Bollinger. He has displayed the same kind of consistent performance that he did against India. All in all, after all the speculation that this might be yet another whitewash for the West Indies, the chances of a 1-1 draw seem quite realistic.
