Australia had to wait until the third session of Day 2 to take ascendancy in the 2nd Test at the MCG against the visiting West Indies, but 6 wickets after tea mean that the Carribbean team are yet again precariously placed in what has been a woeful tour for them.
Steven Smith and Adam Voges carried their respective scores into three figures before the hosts declared their first innings at 551/3, after some unintrusive bowling by the visitors meant that Australia were never under any pressure. Voges currently has a humungous average of 85.67, having completed 1028 runs in 2015, the year in which he made his Test debut.
Smith also brought up his 8th ton of the year, ranking alongside Kane Williamson as the most prolific century makers for this year.
Put into bat after the declaration, the West Indies openers managed to see out the remaining overs in the afternoon session without loss of wickets, but collapsed after tea. Darren Bravo, who retired from the day’s action not out on 13, was the only batsman who provided any resistance, as James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon claimed two wickets each.
So far in this series, Australia is a combined 7 for 1134, while the Windies are a combined 26 for 462 – a stark difference of class.
West Indies will resume batting on Day 3 with the score at 91/6, trailing the hosts by 460 runs. The Melbourne Test too is in risk of getting over inside three days, with the visitors already struggling to save yet another match.
Brief Scores – Australia 551/3 (Khawaja 144, Smith 134*, Burns 128, Voges 106*; Taylor 2/97) lead West Indies 91/6 (Blackwood 28, Chandrika 25; Lyon 2/18, Siddle 2/19) by 460 runs
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