Kingston [Jamaica], July 15 (ANI): In what turned out to be a disastrous outing at Sabina Park, the West Indies were bowled out for just 27 runs in their second innings, the second-lowest total in the history of Test cricket. As a result, they lost the third Test and handed Australia a 3-0 series sweep, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Chasing a target of 204 on the third day, the Windies lasted just 14.3 overs, setting a string of unwanted records. Their total narrowly escaped becoming the lowest in Test history, falling just one run short of New Zealand’s 26 in 1955 but it was well below West Indies’ previous worst of 47. The innings also went down as the first in Test history to feature seven ducks. The top six batters together managed only six runs, the lowest in any innings in the longest format of the game.
Australia’s Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc, registering the fastest five-wicket haul in Test history, taking five wickets in just 15 balls, including three in his opening over.
Speaking after the match at both the presentation ceremony and the press conference, West Indies captain Roston Chase was clearly dejected.
“It’s disappointing,” Chase said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“We’ve been putting ourselves in positions to win games, and then we just lay down and not put up a fight in the last batting innings. It’s quite heartbreaking, because I think we did it in all three Tests, and we’re not really learning from our mistakes. So that’s something we have to really look at,” he added.
“Obviously being bowled out for less than 30 is quite embarrassing,” he noted.
He said the target was well within reach and refused to blame the pitch, despite the fact that not a single batter across both teams managed a fifty in the entire Test. This was only the seventh instance since 1900, and just the third since 1981, when a Test with two completed innings saw no half-centuries.
“I thought it was realistic,” Chase said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“I mean, the wicket was a good wicket, still a good batting wicket. I didn’t think there was too many devils in the wicket, like the last two games where the ball was rolling or bouncing inconsistently. So yeah, we thought 204 was quite gettable. But then, obviously, with the start and stuff being (11 for 6) or something like that, it’s very difficult to really get those runs from there,” he noted.
It capped off a dismal series for the Caribbean side’s relatively inexperienced batting line-up. Their scores across the three matches read 190, 141, 253, 143, 143, and 27. Only Brandon King managed a half-century, his 75 in Grenada being the highest individual score of the series. In fact, he was the only West Indies batter with a series average above 20 (21.50), if one excludes tail-ender Anderson Phillip, who was unbeaten on 10 and 11 in both innings respectively of his only match.
On the other hand, Australia had four players averaging above 30, with Travis Head scoring over 200 runs and averaging more than 32, courtesy of his two fifties in Barbados. Head, Cameron Green, and Usman Khawaja were the only batters to have faced more than 300 deliveries over the six innings.
Chase acknowledged that the pitches were challenging for batters but credited the bowlers for their effort throughout the series.
“I think the pitches were very tough,” he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“I don’t want to say they were too in favour of the bowlers, but they were very tough because, as you can see, this is probably the first series I’ve ever played (where) no batter got a hundred for each side. So that’s something that I’ve never really seen in a Test series. So that just goes to show how dominant the bowlers were,” he noted.
However, he admitted that rebuilding from such a defeat would be a huge task. The West Indies do not play another Test until October, and their next challenge will be in vastly different conditions in India.
“We need to really take a deep look at ourselves as batters,” Chase said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“The next series from here is quite a while. So we have time on our side. So I think that’s what we need to really do, really have a look at our batting this series and see where we can improve and how we can put 300 run totals on the board,” he noted.
“Obviously India is going to be different conditions, probably more spinner-friendly. So I think if you can have some batting camps around playing spin bowling and stuff like that, I think that will be ideal for us going into those conditions,” he added. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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