Australia routed West Indies for 77 in the second innings to romp to a 419- run victory in the Day-Night second Test and complete a 2-0 series sweep at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Chasing a daunting victory target of 497, the Windies’ defeat was merely a matter of time after they began the penultimate day on a hopelessly placed 38 for four.
Australia took just 90 minutes to complete the formalities with Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc sharing five of the last six Windies wickets.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s 17 was the highest score by a Windies batter in their sorry-looking scorecard. “Big partnerships set us up, and the bowlers were splendid as we continue to be undefeated in pink-ball Tests,” Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith said, referring to their 11-0 record in Day-Night Tests.
Smith heaped praise on the batters, especially Marnus Labuschagne, whose three 100-plus scores in four innings fetched him the Player-of-theSeries award. “He works incredibly hard in the nets. He’s very adaptable to situations. No reason why he wouldn’t continue.”
Mitchell Starc (centre) with teammates after dismissing Devon Thomas on Sunday. Like Michael Neser, Starc also took three wickets in the second innings, finishing with a match haul of five for 77. Getty Images
“It’s nice to be going through a patch where I’m scoring and the team is winning consistently,” Labuschagne said.
About his performance in the series, the Australia No.3 stated: “It’s one of those things you look back at the end of your career to sink in. But right now, there’s so much going on and you have the next series to look forward to.”
Scott Boland’s three-wicket burst on Saturday had put Australia on the brink of a massive victory, and Starc (3/29) removed overnight batsmen Devon Thomas and Jason Holder within the first 30 minutes on Sunday to effectively expose the Windies tail.
Neser (3/22) then took over, dismissing Roston Chase and Joshua Da Silva in the same over. He, thereafter, removed Marquino Mindley to seal Australia’s victory with five sessions to spare.
In between, off-spinner Nathan Lyon bowled Alzarri Joseph to claim his 450th Test wicket in his 112th game.
Alex Carey put up a wicketkeeping masterclass for the hosts, pouching three stunning catches to hasten the collapse of the Windies.
Top-ranked Australia were without regular skipper Pat Cummins and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood owing to injury, but Boland and Neser ensured the duo were not missed.
“Disappointing second game for sure,” Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said. “We showed some fight in the first Test. We lost a few guys to injury but did not play well overall. We need to learn from their (Australia’s) batters about leaving (the ball) and how their bowlers bowled to their fields.”
Travis Head was adjudged Player-of-the-Match for his career-best 175 at his home ground, which helped Australia post 511 for 7 declared in their first innings.
Brief scores: Australia 511/7 decl. & 199/6 decl. West Indies 214 & 77 (M. Neser 3/22). Australia won by 419 runs.
Written with Reuters inputs
