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Stuart Clark's
triple blow leaves Windies stuttering |
Link to Scorecard
It
was a mixed day for West Indies at the Sabina
Park in Kingston, Jamaica in the first Test
against Australia. Having restricted the Aussies
to less than 450, the West Indies batting
started solidly until Stuart Clark spoilt the
fun taking three wickets in succession. The West
Indies though ended the second day's play on a
brighter note through a nice unbroken
partnership for the 4th wicket between Runako
Morton and Shiv Chanderpaul.
The pitch played its trick on the second day
to bring in lot of interest in the Test Match.
It gave the batsmen on both sides a tricky
challenge with the bounce being either on the
higher side or on the lower side. Australia
starting the day at a commanding 301/4 collapsed
to 431 all out. Wickets went down at regular
intervals, but somehow the Aussies got to the
good total thanks to fireworks from Andrew
Symonds, who got stranded on 70* (from 115 balls
with 8 fours and 2 sixes). Overnight batsman
Brad Hodge had gone onto make 67 (from 122 balls
with 9 fours and a six) while night watchman
Mitchell Johnson frustrated the Windies with a
53-ball stay.
For the West Indies, Fidel Edwards continued
his impressive performance to finish with 5 for
104 although his economy rate is on the higher
side touching almost 4.00. Medium Pacer Darren
Sammy got a couple of wickets while all other
used bowlers for Sarwan got a wicket each. West
Indies had to start their innings a few overs
before Tea and they got themselves to a decent
start but couldn't sustain that for a long
period. One change bowler Stuart Clark made good
use of his height and the unpredictable nature
of the wicket to bring the Aussies back in
control.
The big wicket for the day for the Aussies
was that of Sarwan who was undone by the extra
bounce from Clark. The West Indies Captain
lasted just the 9 balls after replacing opener
Devon Smith, who made 32 before getting bowled
by Clark. The other opener Brenton Parchment
didn't make any sort of impact and became the
third victim for Clark. The remaining part of
the day's play was seen through safely by Morton
(23* from 53 balls) and Chanderpaul (25* from 56
balls) to take their team to 115 for 3 in 37
overs. Stuart Clark had superb figures of
8-1-18-3 by the close.
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