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West Indies were 64 for 5 when Justin Greaves was
caught low down at slip from what turned out to be the last ball of the opening
session at the Gabba. As the floodlights began to spread across the stadium two
hours later, very few would have given them much of a chance to still be just
five wickets down, and even fewer of them to still be batting at the end.
However, in a Test season when the ball has dominated
play, Kavem Hodge and Joshua Da Silva, leading both visitors for the first
entire wicketless session of the summer, brought West Indies back from the
verge over the next several hours.
It would be one of the biggest upsets of all time to
win a Test on this trip. Though who knows what may happen over the next four
days, Australia is still the favourite. For West Indies, a more realistic
scenario was that the trip should have been about forcing the home team to work
as hard as they could, maybe scaring them along the way, and allowing the less
experienced players to gain experience in the heat of battle.
In Adelaide, they applied pressure, putting Australia
six down and behind in the first inning until Travis Head turned the tide.
Summertime’s biggest story was Shamar Joseph’s debut. However, Josh Hazlewood
exposed their batting shortcomings, and the Test hardly made it to the third
day.
In Brisbane, the initial indications were not
encouraging. After a lacklustre first Test, Brathwaite, who had to take the
initiative, responded with a loose waft at Hazlewood; McKenzie, giving away an
encouraging start with a slash to slip; Tagenarine Chanderpaul nicked into the
cordon; and Alick Athanaze, giving Mitchell Starc his 350th wicket, edged a
wild drive.
In Brisbane, the initial indications were not
encouraging. After a lacklustre first Test, Brathwaite, who had to take the
initiative, responded with a loose waft at Hazlewood; McKenzie, giving away an
encouraging start with a slash to slip; Tagenarine Chanderpaul nicked into the
cordon; and Alick Athanaze, giving Mitchell Starc his 350th wicket, edged a
wild drive.
However, Hodge and Da Silva—the latter one of the
team’s older members—came out firing after the supper break, with Da Silva
hitting successive boundaries off of Pat Cummins and Hodge hitting Starc for
six. Despite the assistance of a pink ball that immediately softened, their
successful deflection of one of the great attacks was nevertheless outstanding.
Hodge drove Cummins through the covers and Starc
through as teatime drew near. Hodge, who attended the Darren Lehmann Academy in
Adelaide when he was seventeen years old and was in Joe Root’s cohort, became
the first person to reach fifty when he managed to squeeze an edge through a
gully. The century stand was also raised by Da Silva’s tuck beyond his short
leg.
Da Silva, who has played 25 Tests total and has
experience in Australia, made a significant impact. He was expected to do more
than he did in Adelaide, where he twice gave Australia the gift of his wicket
with top-edged pulls. This time, he was given a lot of brief things as well,
but he had learned from his past errors.
They weren’t quite done for the day, either, as rookie
Kevin Sinclair held the pose after a superb straight drive against Starc, and
Alzarri Joseph hit Cummins over mid-off amid a barrage of boundaries. In the
last over, Joseph edged to slip and had a brief farewell from Hazlewood,
indicating that Australia hadn’t got it all their own way.
Regardless of how the remainder of the game turns out,
this was a day of improvement for the West Indies, who still have a chance to
reach 300. If they bowl as well as Adelaide, it really may be a tussle. And
that was something of a win in and of itself.