West Indies out for 77 as dominant Australia win 2nd Test
Top-ranked Australia dismissed an outclassed West Indies for just 77 Sunday to win the day-night second Test in Adelaide by 419 runs and seal the series 2-0.
The visitors resumed day four on 38-4 and were all out in the first session with Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser doing the damage to end a lopsided campaign.
Australia won the first Test at Perth by 164 runs.
“Nice toss to win, the boys batted particularly well the first day. The partnership between Marnus (Labuschagne) and Travis (Head) set the game up for us,” said Australian skipper Steve Smith.
“It’s been a good week. Everyone is contributing when they need to and we got a lot of trust in each other and sets us up really nicely.”
The defeat ended the reign of West Indies head coach Phil Simmons, who announced his intention to quit after their disastrous recent Twenty20 World Cup campaign, when they exited in the first round.
Australia took a stranglehold on day one when Head smacked 175 and Labuschagne hit 163 and they never let up.
It propelled them to 511-7 declared with the visitors then dismissed for 214 before Australia posted a quickfire 199-6 to set the West Indies 497 to win.
The Caribbean side were never in the hunt after Scott Boland sent down a sensational three-wicket maiden under the lights on Friday evening to leave them decimated.
“Disappointing for sure. The first game we showed some fight, obviously lost guys due to injury,” West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite said.
“Good test for us and hopefully we will continue to work. Very unfortunate about the experience we lost due to injuries, but we can learn a lot from Australia about how to go about things.”
Devon Thomas and Jason Holder, both on eight, trudged out on an overcast Sunday still 459 runs adrift, with defeat just a matter of time.
Thomas only survived 11 balls, adding four runs before attempting to drive a wide Starc delivery only to edge to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Starc was a constant threat and he knocked Holder’s stump out of the ground on 11 with a cracking ball to leave the West Indies reeling on 49-6.
Carey held a juggling catch from Neser to remove Roston Chase for 13 with the same pair combining again to halt Joshua Da Silva on 15 in the same over.
Lyon bowled Alzarri Joseph before Carey and Neser again worked their magic to snare Marquino Mindley and end the game.
Landmark
It culminated in a dominant win for Australia notable for several landmarks, with Labuschagne becoming the second-fastest man to 3,000 Test runs behind only the great Donald Bradman.
The number three slammed 204, 104, 163, and 31 in his four series innings to cap a sensational run which elevated him above England’s Joe Root as the number one Test batsman in the world.
Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon also set a record as the most successful bowler at the Adelaide Oval since the revered ground opened its doors in 1873, surpassing Shane Warne’s 56 wickets.
There were few bright lights for the West Indies, although the emergence of impressive opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who made his debut in Perth, was a plus point.
They were otherwise lacklustre, hampered by a slew of injuries that depleted their bowling, again failing to snap a 25-year winless Test streak on Australian soil.
While they head home, Australia move to Brisbane to face South Africa from Friday in the first of three Tests which should provide stiffer competition.
Skipper Pat Cummins, who missed Adelaide with a thigh niggle, is expected to be fit, but there are lingering concerns over fellow injured paceman Josh Hazlewood.
If he does not recover, either Neser or Boland are set to replace him.