The West Indies have resumed batting on day three of the first Test against Australia, looking to go deep in their bid to save a draw.
Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (18*) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (47*) stood tall against Australia’s world class attack late on day two — with many expecting the touring side to crumble.
Australia struck early on day three, however, with Josh Hazlewood finding Chanderpaul’s outside edge for 51.
The West Indies are now 1-88 with Brathwaite (25) and Nkrumah Bonner (3) at the crease.
Chanderpaul, son of West Indies legend Shivnarine, brought up a half century on debut and then, in a cruel twist, was out the following ball.
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The hosts finished just short of the 600 mark after Marnus Labuschagne (204) and Steve Smith (200*) blasted double tons on day two, before Travis Head (99) fell agonisingly short of a century to bring about the declaration.
Late on day two, Fox Cricket captured a priceless moment between Smith and Head after the latter’s heartbreak.
A mic’d up Smith can be seen heading over to Head in between overs, and saying: “I just want to give you a hug.”
Smith then gives his teammate a warm embrace before carrying on his way.
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TEAMS
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
West Indies XI: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva, Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales
Every boundary from Smith’s double ton! | 03:56
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Meanwhile, Braithwaite had nothing but praise for his opening partner, Chanderpaul, whose father is a cricketing legend, scoring a staggering 11867 runs at an average of 51.37.
“I know he’s a fighter so it isn’t surprising,” Braithwate said following day two.
“It was good to see, obviously we need to continue tomorrow.
“I wasn’t surprised, I’ve known for awhile playing against him, he takes his time with the bat and he bats for long periods.
“I think he has a bright future for the West Indies. It’s good to have him here.
“He’s going to be special, he’s going to do a great job.”
Devastation as Head falls short on 99! | 02:12
Braithwate himself sits 13th in the West Indies all-time Test batting leaderboard and revealed his advice for the 26-year-old left-handed batsmen.
“(I told him) just to keep going to be honest. He’s a strong character, he’s a fighting person,” Braithwate said.
“From me, it was just keep going. He’s a simple guy as well so I didn’t need to tell him much. Just watch it as long as possible.
“I just made sure he took his time (after getting hit), don’t rush it, but he was good to go.”
Fox Cricket’s Mike Hussey said the conditions ahead of day three were “perfect”, sitting at 24 degrees and partly cloudy.
The pitch has also remained intact, with no major cracks showing in the Optus Stadium wicket, but Hussey highlighted some divots left by the ball at one end.
As the wicket hardens, Australia’s seamers could capitalise on the scuffs left by the ball.
