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West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph looked stunning with the ball in the opening Test against Australia in Barbados. Batting first after winning the toss, the visitors faced the wrath of the Caribbean pacers Joseph and Jayden Seales. Joseph looked dominating in the initial stage of the game and picked up the scalps of Sam Konstas and Cameron Green. After sending both batters back to the pavilion, Joseph struck the Aussie side again and this time, his victim was veteran opener Usman Khawaja, who was settled at the crease. The left-handed batter went back to the dugout after scoring only 47.
However, Shamar’s best delivery came against Beau Webster, who got cleaned up while countering the peach ball. Webster, who was looking to stabilise the visitors’ innings, was dazed as he looked completely clueless against the 25-year-old. The delivery landed on the middle of the surface and dislodged Webster’s bails. Joseph ended his spell with 4/46 figures.
Jayden Seales grabbed his third Test fifer
Jayden Seales played the role of wrecker-in-chief as he bagged a five-wicket haul. In his spell, he got the better of the key Aussie batters Josh Inglis and Alex Carey. Allying with Joseph, he bundled out Australia at a score of 180. Except for Usman Khawaja (47 off 128) and Travis Head (59 off 78), no batter looked decent for Australia.
It was Seales’ third fifer in red-ball cricket. Following Australia’s miserable batting show, West Indies also struggled against Australia’s formidable batting unit. Mitchell Starc removed Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell from the crease while Pat Cummins dismissed Keacy Carty. Josh Hazlewood also cleaned up Jomel Warrican. After the end of day 1, West Indies are 57/4 in 20 overs.
