Joseph and McKenzie shine, but Windies suffer batting collapse to hand Aussies advantage

Newcomer Shamar Joseph and Kirk McKenzie were the only bright sparks for the West Indies on the opening day of the first Test against hosts and world champions Australia.

Joseph starred with both bat and ball, while McKenzie stroked a defiant half-century on an otherwise bleak day for the visitors which saw them bundled out for just 188 at the Adelaide Oval, half an hour after tea.

In response, Australia finished on 59-2, with Joseph accounting for the prized wickets of Steve Smith for 12 and Marnus Labuschagne for 10.

Usman Khawaja was unbeaten on 30 and Cameron Green not out on six, to give the home side the edge.

McKenzie and Joseph were the only two West Indies batsmen to pass 20 after they were put in to bat on a hard, true Adelaide Oval pitch.

McKenzie scored an even 50 off 94 balls, while Joseph, batting at number 11, scored a breezy 36 from 41 balls, with three fours and one six, to help the Windies get up to their eventual total after they were struggling at 133-9.

Together with fellow fast bowler Kemar Roach, who scored 17 not out, they added 55 runs for the last wicket.

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood took four wickets apiece to be the main destroyers.

After Roach and vice-captain Alzarri Joseph were ineffective in their opening spells with the new ball, Joseph got the breakthrough for the West Indies with his first ball in Tests when he had Smith caught by Justin Greaves low at third slip.

“Getting Steve Smith, I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” newcomer Joseph told reporters after the day’s play ended. “I’ll take a picture and post it up in my house.

“If I could have run (into the stands), I would have. It was really a joy for me.”

Joseph followed up with the scalp of Labuschagne, caught at deep fine leg from a miscued hook in his fourth over and had the Australians wobbling on 45 for two before Khawaja and Green batted through a little more than half-hour to the close to settle the nerves of the home team.

Khawaja was lucky to be there at the close, after he was dropped on three by wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva diving to his left in Alzarri Joseph’s first over.

Earlier, another batting capitulation by the West Indies left them under pressure to survive the remaining four days of the contest.

They sunk to 64 for three at lunch after Cummins grabbed the wickets of the visitors’ openers, left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul for six and their captain Kraigg Brathwaite for 13 in his opening burst, and Hazlewood added the scalp of Alick Athanaze for the same score in a second spell.

Chanderpaul resisted for almost 45 minutes before he was caught at gully, slicing a loose drive and Green used all his 6ft, 6in height to haul in the catch, while Brathwaite was bowled on the stroke of the first hour when he played forward to a delivery that angled in before moving away late.

With lunch around the corner, Athanaze was bowled when he became the 250th Test scalp for Hazlewood, offering no shot.

West Indies were wobbling on 52 for three, and Kavem Hodge, Athanaze’s fellow Dominican and the other newcomer, defied the Australian attack for about an hour either side of the interval to make 12, but three wickets – all to Hazlewood – fell for 10 in the span of 26 balls to jolt the Caribbean side.

Hodge was caught in the gully, and McKenzie was caught behind in the over after he reached his 50, before Greaves was caught in the covers for five, to leave West Indies reeling on 108 for six.

Da Silva promised much with the bat after he scored a hundred in the warm-up match before the Test against the Cricket Australia XI, but he delivered little and was caught at deep square leg for six from a miscued pull off Cummins and sparked another slide.

Seven balls later, Gudakesh Motie was caught at backward point off Starc for one, and two balls later, Alzarri Joseph was caught at second slip off Cummins for 14, as West Indies crumbled to 133 for nine.

However, Joseph came to crease and showed no fear to reach his highest first-class score, and he got solid support from Roach to carry the visitors to 177 for nine at tea before he was trapped lbw to Lyon in the fourth over after the break.

Cummins was the pick of his side’s bowlers, taking four for 41 from 17 overs, and Hazlewood finished with four for 44 from 15 overs.

(CMC/RB)