Josh Hazlewood claimed his 11th five-wicket haul in Test matches as Australia completed a 10-wicket win over the West Indies on Friday before lunch on the third day of the first Test.
Australia dismissed the West Indies for 120 in the 13th over of the day on Friday, leaving the home side needing just 26 runs to win.
Steve Smith (11) and Usman Khawaja (9) easily completed that total for Australia, although Khawaja retired hurt after being hit by a bouncer with Australia needing one run to win. Marnus Labuschagne hit the winning run two balls later.
Hazlewood already had four for 18 at the start of the day, as he helped Australia reduce the West Indies to 73/6 in their second innings before stumps on the second day. Australia led by 95 runs on their first innings score after making 283 in reply to the West Indies’ 188.
“It’s nice to have the weekend off now. It’s nice as a group to play on that wicket,” Hazlewood said.
“I felt I bowled just as well in the first half of the summer with no result. The wickets have been really good and playing with this team, it feels relentless and the pressure just builds all the time.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins said: “It was a wicket where you always felt like there might be a ball that nips and you were in the game even when someone was scoring a few runs. The big fella (Hazlewood) really turned it on for us this week.”
The big question at the start of the day was whether the West Indies would be able to make Australia bat again. It began to look unlikely when Mitchell Starc dismissed Joshua da Silva (18) and Alzarri Joseph (16) and Hazlewood bowled Gudakesh Motie (3) to leave the West Indies at 94/9, still needing one run to avoid an innings defeat.
Shamar Joseph and Kemar Roach again produced a small rearguard action, adding 26 for the last wicket after putting on 55 in the first innings. Joseph already was a star of the match for his 36 in the first innings and his 5/94 with the ball on debut.
