- Reuters Brian Lara plays a sweep shot as Australian wicketkeeper and captain Adam Gilchrist (left) and slips fielder Mark Waugh look on during the second day of the third Test between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide Oval yesterday.
ADELAIDE, CANA-Reuters -
THE third Test between Australia and West Indies was delicately balanced after an intriguing second day's play at Adelaide Oval yesterday.
Australia were 180 for three in their first innings, still 211 runs behind the tourists total of 391, underpinned by 182 from Brian Lara.
The ex-captain scored almost half his team's runs to record his fourth highest score in Test cricket in a vintage display featuring 29 fours and a six.
The 31-year-old left-hander had come to the wicket before lunch on Friday and despite suffering a hamstring strain and being out of form, he managed to occupy the crease for six hours.
He added 46 to his overnight score of 136, including eight boundaries, before Australian off-spinner Colin Miller found an edge and Mark Waugh took a regulation catch at slip just before lunch.
Jamaica's 19-year-old Test debutante Marlon Samuels scored an attractive 35 and then claimed two wickets with his off-spin bowling to stifle the Aussies' advance.
West Indies had started the second day at 274-4 and looked to be heading towards a score of around 450 before Lara's dismissal triggered another predictable collapse and they lost their last five wickets for 37.
Thirty-six year-old Miller, a cricketing journeyman who has played just 15 Tests and bowls a mixture of medium pace and off-spin, mopped up the tail to finish with 5-81, his second best figures in Test cricket.
He will head into the second innings on a hat-trick after dismissing the last two West Indians, Ridley Jacobs and Courtney Walsh, in successive balls.
Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie also bagged five wickets when he added nightwatchman Mervyn Dillon in the first over of the morning after collecting all four scalps the previous day.
But with the flat Adelaide Oval pitch living up to its reputation as a batsman's paradise, neither he nor any of the other quick bowlers managed to claim another wicket all day.
Australia, whose innings victory in the second Test in Perth gave them a world record 12th straight Test win, quickly set about erasing the deficit before a minor collapse halted their progress in the final half hour before stumps.
Openers Matthew Hayden and Michael Slater both scored half centuries to put on 156 for the opening wicket before falling in quick succession.
Hayden made 58 after scores of 44 and 69 in the previous two Tests before he was run out at the non-striker's end for the second time in the series.
He called Slater through for a quick single but hesitated as he raced down the track and was caught short of his ground.
Slater fell for 83 with a century seemingly within his grasp after he miscued a ball from Samuels and was caught by substitute fielder Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Slater had looked to be in great form after hitting eight fours and racing to 83 off 123 balls when he went with the total on 160.
Australia lost their third wicket for the addition of just nine runs when Justin Langer was also deceived by Samuels' slow turners, edging a catch to Lara at slip for six, before second Test century maker Mark Waugh (10 not out) and nightwatchman Gillespie (two not out) held out to stumps.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies first innings
(Resumed at 274-4)
B. Lara c Waugh b Miller 182
M. Dillon c Waugh b Gillespie 9
M. Samuels lbw Miller 35
R. Jacobs c Langer b Miller 21
N. McLean lbw Miller 0
M. Black not out 1
C. Walsh lbw Miller 0
Extras (b-8 nb-6 lb-12) 26
Total (128.5 overs) 391
Fall: 1-45 2-52 3-86 4-269 5-280 6-354 7-376 8-382 9-391 10-391
Bowling: McGrath 36-14-83-0 (nb-3), Gillespie 32-9-89-5 (nb-2), Miller 35.5-11-81-5 (nb-1), MacGill 24-5-118-0, Ponting 1-1-0-0.
Australia first innings
M. Slater c sub (Sarwan) b Samuels 83
M. Hayden run out 58
J. Langer c Lara b Samuels 6
M. Waugh not out 10
J. Gillespie not out 2
Extras (w-2 nb-8 lb-9 b-2) 21
Total (for three wickets, 49 overs) 180
Fall: 1-156 2-160 3-169
Bowling: Walsh 13-1-36-0 (nb-5), Black 10-1-39-0 (nb-3), Dillon 6-0-33-0 (w-2), McLean 7-0-23-0, Adams 2-0-13-0, Samuels 11-3-25-2.
