And at the end of the day it was the West Indies who ended up being clinical and came out on top.
Stretching the limits of his fitness Benn delivered 53 unrelenting overs and took his first career five wicket haul – 5 for 155 as he combined with Kemar Roach who bowled with clever hostility to rough up the Aussies. They claimed nine of the ten Australian wickets – inclusive of a run out.
The Aussies fought in spurts but eventually fell for 439, allowing the Windies a 12 run lead which they duly extended to 35 after the openers – Chris Gayle (12*) and Adrian Barath (10*) – made 23 runs from the four overs they batted at the end of the day.
The details of the Benn/Roach domination of the Australian innings make for pleasant reading by a West Indian audience.
Australia started the day on 174 without loss, their openers were in their pomp on day two and they had laid a foundation for a massive total. Shane Watson was on 96, four away from his maiden Test ton and Simon Katich on 71. Neither got to a century and the West Indians have remarkably not allowed a single century in the series thus far.
Benn who operated using cunning variations of length and pace bowled Watson with the second ball of the day as he attempted to cut and forced the 28 year-old to trudge his way back to the pavilion in utter disappointment. The towering Benn produced a red-letter career performance and was at the very height of his bowling powers throughout the day.
The overall West Indies performance was nothing short of outstanding. On the day they dismissed all ten Australian wickets for 265 runs on a pitch which still remained good for batting. It further emphasises how supreme Benn and Roach were and their captain Chris Gayle did back them up with aggressive field placings.
Roach’s figures read 3 for 93 from 25.1 overs at the end of the Aussie innings. It was his pounding pace, delivered from an angled approach which confused the batsmen and resulted in them being hit on the body like few West Indian bowlers have done in recent times.
Katich added 9 runs to his overnight 71 before he was outfoxed by Benn and lobbed a catch to Adrian Barath at forward short leg. Ricky Ponting then made 36 before he miscued a pull off Roach and was caught by Dwayne Bravo at midwicket. Roach has now dismissed Ponting on both occasions he has batted in the series and the Australian captain has not yet gotten the measure of the slippery Windies pacer who delivers with intimidating pace despite his short stature.
The two Michaels – Clarke and Hussey then added 79 for the fourth wicket, taking the score from 233 for 3 to 312 when Roach returned and had Hussey – beaten for pace – caught behind for 41.
Clarke went on to bring up his 15th Test half century but like Watson and Katich, was unable to get to triple figures. As the right hander was looking ominous having unleashed some classical drives either side of the wicket Benn cut him down. Having used his feet to Benn’s spin for the duration of his 130 ball innings (5×4) Clarke followed a wide ball and got a thick edge which Ramnaresh Sarwan cleaned up at first slip.
It was Benn’s fourth wicket in his 45th over following his dismissal of Marcus North (16) who was caught by Bravo at leg slip as he botched a sweep shot.
Darren Sammy – the only other bowler to take a wicket – then had Mitchell Johnson caught at slip by Chris Gayle for 7 while Roach accounted for Nathan Hauritz (caught by Ramdin for 17) to leave the Australians at 418 for 8.
Brad Haddin – not out on 55 (80 balls, 5×4, 1×6) at the end – pushed his side close to the Windies target but they fell a dozen runs short to leave the game even after the half way stage.
Benn hardly had any energy left to celebrate his five wicket haul but he could not withhold a broad smile which lasted for several overs after Peter Siddle (0) was caught by Bravo at gully.
It was most fitting that Benn and Roach combined to run out Doug Bollinger for a duck to end the Australian innings. The performance by the Barbadian duo was supreme and lifted the West Indies on a day when they had been expected to chase leather as the Australian batsmen dominated. Together – regularly in tandem – they sent down 78 or 60% of the Windies 131.1 overs.
The other bowlers were rarely called to duty as the pair persevered and felled the Australians. The game will now be a second innings affair and the team which plays better on the final two days is likely to take the win. To the surprise of fans and cynics alike the Windies have won the first three days but they must now follow through if they are to even the series which they trail 0-1. (By DigicelCricket.com)
Scoreboard
ADELAIDE, Australia, Dec 6, CMC – Scoreboard on the third day in the second Test between Australia and West Indies on Sunday at the Adelaide Oval:
WEST INDIES 1st Innings 451
(D. Bravo 104; M. Johnson 3-105)
AUSTRALIA 1st Innings
(overnight 174 without loss)
S. Watson b Benn 96
S. Katich c Barath b Benn 80
*R. Ponting c Bravo b Roach 36
M. Hussey c wkpr Ramdin b Roach 41
M. Clarke c Sarwan b Benn 71
M. North c Bravo b Benn 16
+B. Haddin not out 55
M. Johnson c *Gayle b Sammy 7
N. Hauritz c wkpr Ramdin b Roach 17
P. Siddle c Bravo b Benn 0
D. Bollinger run out (Benn/Roach) 0
Extras (lb2, nb18) 20
TOTAL (all out, 131.1 overs) 439
Fall of wickets: 1-174 (Watson), 2-193 (Katich), 3-233 (*Ponting), 4-312 (Hussey), 5-353 (North), 6-370 (Clarke), 7-377 (Johnson), 8-418 (Hauritz), 9-419 (Siddle)
Bowling: Roach 25.1-3-93-3 (nb10); Rampaul 14-1-52-0 (nb4); Bravo 12-1-43-0; Sammy 18-2-79-1 (nb1); Benn 53-8-155-5 (nb3); Gayle 9-1-15-0
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
*C. Gayle not out 12
A. Barath not out 10
Extras (nb1) 1
TOTAL (without loss, 4 overs) 23
Bowling: Johnson 2-0-12-0; Bollinger 2-0-11-0 (nb1)
Match position: West Indies lead by 35 runs with all their second innings wickets standing
Umpires: Asad Rauf, I. Gould, Video replays: B. Oxenford
Matchreferee: C. Broad
CMC ar/09
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