ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Inept batting took the gloss off defiant half-centuries from Marlon Samuels and Shane Dowrich, and sent West Indies crashing to a chastening nine-wicket defeat inside three days in the opening Test against Australia here yesterday.
Mounting an admirable fightback at 181 for three before tea after resuming the day on 25 for two, West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 35 runs to be all out for 216, half-hour before the scheduled close at Windsor Park.
Samuels top-scored with 74 and the debutant Dowrich got 70, in an excellent 144-run fourth wicket stand which dug their side out of a hole after Darren Bravo perished for five in the sixth over of the morning to leave the hosts tottering on 37 for three.
The right-handed Samuels faced 184 balls in just under 4-1/4 hours at the crease and struck seven fours and a six while Dowrich, also a right-hander, carved out five fours and a six in an innings lasting 150 minutes and 185 deliveries.
However, once Dowrich lost concentration and fell nine minutes before tea, West Indies suffered a rapid decline, collapsing from 189 for four at the break and leaving the Aussies with just 47 runs to get for victory.
Left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc captured four for 28 while pacer Josh Hazlewood (2-17), left-armer Mitchell Johnson (2-38) and off-spinner Nathan Lyon (2-67) picked up two wickets each.
Big-hitting left-hander David Warner promptly set about the Windies bowling with relish, smashing three fours and two sixes in 28 off 20 deliveries, to propel the visitors to their target in just five overs.
His dismissal, caught at first slip by Bravo off Taylor, was purely academic as Steve Smith arrived to gather the winning runs, working the same bowler into the onside for a single to give the Aussies a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
For the second time in the game, the Windies’ brittle batting was laid bare, though for the better part of two sessions, they took the fight to the Aussies through Samuels and Dowrich.
The pair came together after Bravo, resuming the day on three, added just two runs before loosely driving Hazlewood up to mid-off where Warner dived to his right to complete a fine catch.
Samuels and Dowrich then ensured the Aussies went without a wicket for the remainder of the session, as they pushed West Indies up to 97 for three at lunch.
With the focus on rebuilding, neither batsman took undue risks, and just four boundaries came in the session – two of these to Dowrich who twice pulled Smith’s part-time spin to the mid-wicket boundary in successive deliveries in the bowler’s first over.
After lunch, the duo raised the tempo slightly as they looked to increase the scoring rate.Both attacked Lyon, with Dowrich clearing the long-off ropes with the bowler in the sixth over after lunch and Samuels twice dancing down the wicket to collect a four and a six with straight hits, in the spinner’s next over.
Samuels brought up his 22nd Test half-century, 50 minutes after lunch with a single off part-time spinner Adam Voges and Dowrich followed 20 minutes later, when he pulled Johnson to the mid-wicket ropes.
Dowrich was looking increasingly likely to reach three figures when he got an an ordinary delivery from Hazlewood and lazily clipped it to a close-in mid-on, where Shane Watson snared the low offering, with tea beckoning.
His dismissal set in train a period of misery for the Windies. Jermaine Blackwood never suggested permanence with a couple of loose strokes before tea and he added only six to his tea time score, before falling for 12 in the seventh over after the interval.
He came down to the fifth ball of Lyon’s 22nd over, was deceived in flight and failed to make his ground before Brad Haddin had him stumped.
Two balls later in the next over, Samuels’ essayed an injudicious hook at a short one from Johnson, and only managed to a top-edge a catch to Starc at deep backward square – a carbon copy of his first innings dismissal.
With the innings in freefall, captain Denesh Ramdin did little to renew hope, dragging an innocuous delivery from Lyon onto his stumps for three, at 206 for seven.
Taylor was a blatant lbw casualty to Starc off the first ball he faced but Jason Holder, who was 12 not out at the end, freed his arms to gather two boundaries off the next over from Johnson.
But the Aussies were in no mood for generosity and Starc finished off the innings clinically, bowling Devendra Bishoo (1) and Shannon Gabriel (0) off successive deliveries.
