After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Pat Cummins said, “The wicket looks pretty good…” By “good,” the Australian skipper clearly meant good for batting. But as it turned out, it was quite the opposite. Australia’s batting lineup crumbled under fiery spells from Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph. Later, West Indies’ top order met a similar fate against Australia’s pacers.
Day 1 of the Barbados Test saw 14 wickets fall. Australia, who won the toss in the opening match of the three-Test series, were bundled out for just 180 runs. West Indies ended the day at 57 for 4.
This match marked the beginning of a new cycle in the ICC Test Championship for both teams and was also Roston Chase’s debut as West Indies Test captain.
Travis Head was the lone bright spot in Australia’s innings, scoring a gritty fifty. He and Usman Khawaja stitched together a partnership of 89 runs—nearly as much as the rest of the lineup combined, which contributed only 91.
Caribbean quicks Seales and Shamar shared 9 wickets between them. For Seales, it was the third time in 19 Tests he picked up a five-wicket haul.
Had the West Indies not dropped four catches, Shamar could have had five wickets as well, and Australia’s situation might have looked even worse. Debutant Brandon King was guilty of dropping three chances himself.
Even though Seales claimed more wickets, Shamar was arguably the standout bowler. He took four of the first five Australian wickets. His opening two spells were electric: 6-2-12-2 and 5-0-12-2.
It was just last year, on tour in Australia, that Shamar grabbed global attention with his sensational bowling.
This Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados is the first here in more than three years—and only the second in six years. Naturally, there was some intrigue about the pitch. Despite looking bare, it offered movement all day and occasional extra bounce.
West Indies didn’t have to wait long for a breakthrough. In just the fourth over, Shamar dismissed young opener Sam Konstas—back in the playing XI—for 3, with a delivery that jagged back in.
Green was dropped on zero by King in the slips, but was soon dismissed for 3 by none other than Shamar.
Josh Inglis, filling in at No. 4 for Steven Smith, fell to Seales while trying to counterattack.
Khawaja had an early reprieve on 2, and Australia had to wait until the 16th over for their first boundary. Eventually, Khawaja lofted a six off Alzarri Joseph and followed it up with a couple of fours off Seales. Head, as usual, began to bat with positive intent. Together, the pair steered Australia from a precarious 22 for 3 to a more respectable 111.
But Shamar returned to break through once again. Khawaja, trying to pull, was dismissed after a gritty 47 off 128 balls.
Shamar then bowled Beau Webster with a beauty. Alex Carey was undone by a stunning catch from Chase off Seales, and Travis Head, who looked set on 59, was taken out by all-rounder Justin Greaves.
Skipper Pat Cummins chipped in with a valuable 28 off 18 balls late in the innings. Seales wrapped things up by cleaning up the tail to complete his five-for.
Australia lost their last 7 wickets for just 69 runs, folding for 180—their lowest first-innings total in West Indies after opting to bat first.
However, West Indies’ batters failed to back up their bowlers. Openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell were removed quickly by Mitchell Starc.
Casey Carty and Brandon King tried to put up some resistance, but Cummins broke through by dismissing Carty for 20. Nightwatchman Jomel Warrican fell to Josh Hazlewood.
After a horror show in the field, debutant Brandon King stood firm with the bat and remained unbeaten at stumps.
Day 1 Summary
Australia 1st innings: 180 in 56.5 overs
(Konstas 3, Khawaja 47, Green 3, Inglis 5, Head 59, Webster 11, Carey 8, Cummins 28, Starc 0, Lyon 9*, Hazlewood 4)
Bowling: Seales 15.5–1–60–5, Shamar 16–3–46–4, Alzarri 12–3–37–0, Chase 4–0–9–0, Greaves 9–2–26–1
West Indies 1st innings: 57/4 in 20 overs
(Brathwaite 4, Campbell 7, Carty 20, King 23*, Warrican 0, Chase 1*)
Bowling: Starc 7–1–35–2, Hazlewood 7–1–13–1, Cummins 6–2–8–1)
