- West Indies dusted inside three days despite a debut ton by opener Adrian Barath

Brisbane, Australia: *Despite a remarkable counterattacking debut century from Adrian Barath, it’s done and dusted – the opening Test match between Australia and the West Indies at the Gabba that is. There are two free days for the Australians to put up their feet and enjoy a few celebratory drinks.

Those two days would best be spent by the Windies sweating it out in the nets in an attempt to get their batsmen’s heads right.

The formalities do not make for pleasant reading for West Indian supporters. Australia batted first and made a commanding but not mammoth 480 for 8 declared. It turned out to be more than enough. The West Indies first response was 228. It was hardly competitive and nowhere near adequate. Then they were made to follow on and having been burned once in the match, instead of doing better – as one might expect from those who fall short on the first occasion – they in fact did worse. The Caribbean boys conspired to be bowled out for 187 in a mere 52.1 overs in the final session of day three.

That translates into an innings and 65 run thumping by Australia with two full days to spare. The details are even more upsetting.

The obvious ones are that the Windies began the day on the ropes at 134 for 5 with Travis Dowlin on 40 and Denesh Ramdin on 22. Ramdin raced to his fifty, getting there before Dowlin did. Eventually Dowlin got his too. The pair added 78 – the largest WI partnership of the match – before Ramdin was dismissed for 54 (55b, 9×4).

Dowlin battled bravely until he was the last man to fall for 62 from 150 deliveries (8×4). On the stroke of lunch, they were all out for 228 in 63 overs and Ricky Ponting, not unexpectedly, asked them to have another go.

Ben Hilfenhaus – later named the Man-of-the-Match for his match haul of 5 for 70 – had a three wicket burst (3 for 20) which buried the Windies top order and sealed their destiny. As he did in the first innings, the Tasmanian pacer removed Gayle via the lbw route for a solitary run. It goes without saying that it was a critical blow.

Then four overs later Hilfenhaus forced Dowlin to play onto his stumps for 4. 18 for 2 read the scorecard but Shivnarine Chanderpaul had joined Barath at the crease and hope floated for the Windies still.

Hope sank when Chanderpaul – usually a rock solid immovable force – pulled without control and was caught for 2 to total 4 runs in the Test match. In both innings, Chanderpaul looked out of sorts, and that is not the Chanderpaul the world knows, 39 for 3.

Dwayne Bravo then linked up with Barath who, despite the loss of wickets, had continued to press on and batted with enterprising aggression. The little 19 year-old defended stoutly and traded in boundaries. The pair added 66, of which Bravo’s contribution was 23. On the stroke of tea, when he should have been circumspect, Bravo embraced recklessness and pulled part time medium pacer, Michael Hussey, down Hilfenhaus’ throat at deep backward square. Tea was taken at 106 for 4 with Barath, having done most of the scoring, on 73.

After tea, he lost home boy Brendan Nash (7) – who failed for a second time – before getting to his century with a flurry of boundaries. All tolled Barath – now the youngest West Indian Test centurion having displaced the legendary George Headley – hit 19 fours and faced 138 balls during an innings which made even the most cynical of pundits sit up and take notice that he is, what no less a man than Brian Lara, other folks in his native Trinidad and Tobago and some in the wider Caribbean had known for some time – an outstanding talent with a bright future in international cricket.

No other batsman got to 25 and the innings folded like a dry leaf over a fire. Shane Watson (2 for 44) and Nathan Hauritz (2 for 40) pocketed two wickets apiece to hasten the end.

The West Indies two most senior batsmen – Gayle and Chanderpaul – contributed a total of 36 runs in the match. The side’s two most junior batsmen – Barath and Dowlin – made 185 all told. Barath on debut and Dowlin playing in his third match made 45% of the runs.

Bravo – senior all rounder in the side – and Nash – experienced in Australia – made 48 runs between them. So the four most experienced batsmen totalled 84 runs at an average of 10.5 when the opposition – in one innings – made 480. That was where the match was lost.

Additionally, Australia batted for 135 overs and lost only 8 wickets while the West Indies batted for 115.1 overs and all 20 of their wickets were accounted for – stunningly they lost 15 of those on the 3rd day alone.

It goes without saying that the Windies missed the services of injured batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan – a veteran of 81 Tests who pulled out with a back problem just before the toss. They will be anxious for him to return to the fold in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval if they are to redeem themselves.

Should Sarwan return to fitness, Dowlin’s commendable performance will bring Nash’s place under scrutiny.

In the meantime, the senior batsmen will need no prompting to up their game and get in adequate practice in prior to December 4th.

They did not acquit themselves well in their first outing but in the second Test – on a fine batting track with short square boundaries – they will have opportunities to repel the Australian bowlers and seek redemption. All is not lost but they are 1-0 behind and there are only two Test matches to go.

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA 1st Innings 480 for eight decl. (Simon Katich 92, Marcus North 79; Dwayne Bravo 3-118)
WEST INDIES 1st innings
(overnight 134 for five)
*C Gayle lbw b Hilfenhaus                                       31
A Barath c Watson b Johnson                               15
T Dowlin c Watson b Hauritz                                 62
S Chanderpaul lbw b Siddle                                     2
D Bravo c Watson b Johnson                                  0
B Nash c wkp Haddin b Watson                           18
+D Ramdin c North b Johnson                           54
S Benn c Siddle b Hilfenhaus                                28
J Taylor c Katich b Hauritz                                     8
K Roach c Clarke b Hauritz                                     0
R Rampaul not out                                                     1
Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 5)                                              9
TOTAL (all out; 63 overs)                                 228
Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Gayle, 12.3 overs), 2-49 (Barath, 13.5), 3-58 (Chanderpaul, 16.5), 4-63 (Bravo, 17.3), 5-96 (Nash, 29.2), 6-174 (Ramdin, 47), 7-212 (Benn, 57.5), 8-221 (Taylor, 60.5), 9-221 (Roach, 61), 10-228 (Dowlin, 63)
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 16-6-50-2 (nb1), Siddle 13-4-51-1 (nb4), Johnson 19-4 -75-3, Watson 9-0-31-1, Hauritz 6-3-17-3.

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (following on)
*C Gayle lbw b Hilfenhaus                                      1
A Barath lbw b Watson                                      104
T Dowlin b Hilfenhaus                                            4
S Chanderpaul c Katich b Hilfenhaus              2
D Bravo c Hilfenhaus b Hussey                       23
B Nash lbw b Hauritz                                             7
+D Ramdin c wkp Haddin b Hauritz            16
J Taylor c Hilfenhaus b Watson                      0
S Benn not out                                                      15
K Roach c Hussey b Siddle                                5
R Rampaul c wkp Haddin b Johnson            0
Extras (lb4, nb6)                                                10
TOTAL (all out, 52.1 overs)                       187

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Gayle, 2.1 overs), 2-18 (Dowlin, 6.1), 3-39 (Chanderpaul, 10.2), 4-105 (Bravo, 27.2), 5-141 (Nash, 39), 6-154 (Barath, 42), 7-158 (Taylor, 43.1), 8-170 (Ramdin, 47), 9-187 (Roach, 52), 10-187 (Rampaul, 52.1)
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 7-3-20-3 (nb1), Siddle 10-3-41-1, Johnson 9.1-1-35-1, Watson 10-0-44-2, Hauritz 14-1-40-2 (nb5), Hussey 2-0-3-1.
Result: Australia won by an innings and 65 runs.
Series: Australia lead three-match series 1-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Ben Hilfenhaus.
Toss: Australia.
Umpires: Asad Rauf, I Gould; TV – M Benson.