Nathan Lyon puts Australia in command – second Test vs. West Indies

West Indies   252-9 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 94, Narsingh Deonarine 55, Darren Bravo 38, Nathan Lyon 5-68) trail Australia 311 all out (Michael Hussey 73, Shane Watson 56, Kemar Roach 5-105) by 59 runs.

Nathan Lyon - Star of the day with 5 wickets
Nathan Lyon – Star of the day with 5 wickets

Nathan Lyon ripped through the middle and lower order batting by grabbing five wickets of West Indies when they were cruising well and put Australia back on top.

The Aussies registered 311 runs in their first innings and the Windies managed 252 for the loss of nine wickets at stumps on day three.

The third day of the second Test came to conclusion on April 17, 2012 at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Earlier, the Caribbeans started the day at 49 in 25.3 overs after losing their three top order batsmen for just 49 runs.  All eyes were set on their most experienced batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul to take them out of the crisis along with the assistance of Darren Bravo as both of them were unbeaten on 1 and 16 runs respectively. They initiated the innings with caution and the first four of the day was scored by Bravo in the 29th over.

Chanderpaul got a life at eight runs when the ball deflected the pad of wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and Michael Clarke was unable to hold the catch on the bowling of Nathan Lyon. The duo kept the score board moving and the boundaries were witnessed more than often as they contributed 62 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Bravo was declared leg before wicket off the part time bowler Michael Hussey for 38 and the wicket fell at exact 100 runs.

Narsingh Deonarine came in next and opened his account with a single on the tenth ball he faced as Chanderpaul kept on cruising at the other end. Deonarine was too cautious and managed just four runs on 43 balls before he dispatched two consecutive fours in the 59th over off Lyon. Chanderpaul completed his fifty on the third ball of the 61st over just after the lunch interval and sent the ball reeling out of the ropes thrice in the following over from James Pattinson. Both batsmen kept on stabilising the innings and enhanced the score to 188 when rain interrupted the match after 74.3 overs at 1.44 pm.

The play resumed at 3.31 pm again as Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit the first six of his innings on the fourth ball off Michael Beer and 100 runs partnership for the fifth wicket was assembled as the total went past 200 runs. Deonarine added another fifty in his Test career on the last ball of the 85th over with a four but lost his wicket for 55 on the first ball of the 88th over off Lyon.

The fifth wicket was lost at 230 runs but just one run later Chanderpaul was declared lbw off Lyon again and missed his successive ton in the series by just six runs. It was the first time in the history of the longer version of the game when top five West Indian batsmen were faced a leg before decision.

Nathan Lyon became unstoppable after that and squeezed the lower order batting by his deadly off spin bowling. Kemar Roach became his fifth victim on the first ball of the 100th over that earned Lyon five wickets in the match which was the second time in his limited Test career. He achieved his first five wickets haul in the first innings of his inaugural Test against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium in August 2011.

West Indies reached at 252 runs at the end of the 104th over with one wicket in hand when the third day’s play was called off as Carlton Baugh and Fidel Edwards were at the crease with 17 and 0 runs respectively.

Lyon was the start performer with the ball by grabbing five wickets whereas Michael Beer, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson and Michael Hussey shared one wicket each.

There are two days left in the match which is heading towards a draw until and unless some dramatic batting collapse occurs from one of the teams.


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