2nd Test: West Indies v Australia at Port-of-Spain, 19-23 Apr 2003 Wisden CricInfo Live Report

2nd Test: West Indies v Australia at Port-of-Spain, 19-23 Apr 2003
Andrew Miller

Australia 1st innings: Ponting ploughs on, Australia declare,
West Indies 1st innings: Lara leads the fightback, Lara falls in final overs, Day 2 Close,
Live Reports from previous days

After Ricky Ponting had completed the first double-century of his career, and Adam Gilchrist had added a typically high-octane hundred of his own, Daren Ganga and Brian Lara launched a thrilling final-session counterattack, reprising their efforts in the first Test at Georgetown by adding 158 for West Indies’s third wicket. But the Australians, as always, had the last laugh. When Brad Hogg bowled Lara round his legs for 91 with two overs remaining, the gloss, and several layers of undercoat, had been taken off West Indies’s effort.

It was a crushing disappointment for the Trinidad crowd, who have still to witness their hero score a Test century on home soil (his highest score is 96). But after the West Indian torpor of the first two sessions, any emotion was better than none. By tea, when Steve Waugh had declared with Australia on 576 for 4, and West Indies had lost both their openers inside seven overs, a devastating rout was the only bankable option.

After that soul-destroying first day, the West Indian fielders emitted a heavy air of resignation as Ponting and Gilchrist strode to the wicket to resume the carnage this morning. Ponting, who is currently batting with an authority scarcely rivalled in Test history, jogged to his third score of 150 in eight Tests with barely a murmur of resistance, and was even allowed a 25-minute net as the new ball was shelved in favour of Marlon Samuels’s speculative offbreaks. The pair added a further 126 runs in the morning session, with Gilchrist shrugging off a half-baked attempt to rough him up to plunder leg-side boundaries at will, and the die was cast.

The way he was batting, only an accident or a lapse of concentration could have dislodged Ponting, who became only the fifth Australian to score a double-hundred in the Caribbean. In fact, it required both, as he swept at Samuels and sauntered out of his ground to jog a single, only for the wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh to whip off the bails as Ponting backflipped towards his crease. Umpire Asoka de Silva, who had been gazing idly towards the fine-leg boundary and may have helped fool Ponting into believing that Baugh had not gathered the ball, acknowledged the appeal without bothering with a replay. He was fortunate not to have dropped his third clanger of the innings.

All of which overshadowed yet another Gilchrist special, which included 11 fours and two sixes from just 104 balls. Astonishingly, it was only the eighth Test century of his career – somehow, he seems to have scored so many more. Waugh declared the moment he reached three figures, and West Indies were left with the best part of 50 overs to salvage the match. Immediately, the Queen’s Park Oval pitch was transformed as Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie swiftly accounted for Devon Smith, for a fifth-ball duck, and Wavell Hinds, whose frenetic innings of 20 contained five fours and a complete lack of footwork.

But Ganga, whose selection ahead of Chris Gayle now looks like a masterstroke rather than a cut-and-paste job, held firm and counterpunched boldly while Lara took time to find his range. When he did, it was a spectacular explosion of strokeplay, mostly at the expense of Stuart MacGill, whose seven overs were flailed for 50 runs. Alas, the pressure of the occasion started to bite with 20 minutes remaining, and he brought down the shutters just that fraction too soon.

Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo in London.

AUSTRALIA IN CHARGE DESPITE LARA'S COUNTERATTACK
Once again, this was not a day to be a bowler. Saturday’s play produced 391 runs for the loss of three wickets, two of them extremely fortuitous. Today, the respective figures were 371, four, one. But whereas on day one, the Australians made every ounce of the running, this time they were forced to do their fair share of the chasing as well, as Daren Ganga and, inevitably, Brian Lara added 158 for the third wicket in a thrilling final-session counterattack. But the Australians, as always, had the last laugh, and when Brad Hogg bowled Lara round his legs for 91 with two overs remaining, the gloss, and several layers of undercoat, had been taken off West Indies’s effort.

LARA LEADS THE FIGHTBACK AFTER AUSTRALIAN DECLARATION
Brian Lara has never scored a Test century on his home ground in Trinidad, but he was determined to put that damning statistic to rights as he and Daren Ganga launched a thrilling counterattack against Australia’s second-string bowlers. A 100-run partnership in double-quick time hadn’t exactly turned the tide of this match – Australia’s total remains more than 400 runs away – but Steve Waugh had a slightly more furrowed brow than usual.

Ganga was the early aggressor, falling solidly into line after the quick demises of Devon Smith, for a fifth-ball duck, and Wavell Hinds, whose frenetic innings of 20 contained five fours and a complete lack of footwork. Ganga’s selection ahead of Chris Gayle now looks like a masterstroke rather than a cut-and-paste job.

As was the case in Georgetown, Lara was uncommonly circumspect at first, scoring just five runs in his first 29 balls. The arrival of Stuart MacGill roused him into action, however, and his first three balls after the drinks break were launched for a four and two sixes down the ground. Andy Bichel, who might have bowled Lara off an inside-edge when he was still in single figures, received equally contemptuous treatment with five fours in three overs, while Brad Hogg’s first over included his third and largest six of the innings.

AUSTRALIA DECLARE ON 576 FOR 4 AFTER GILCHRIST HUNDRED
Adam Gilchrist brought up his eighth Test century, a typically high-octane assault that included 11 fours and two sixes from just 104 balls, as Australia declared their first innings on 576 for 4. West Indies were left with the best part of 50 overs to set about salvaging something from what has, so far, been a hopelessly one-sided contest.

Steve Waugh, who was not required to bat, declared the very moment that Gilchrist carved Mervyn Dillon through point to reach three figures. Dave Bernard, in fact, did well to get a hand on a low half-chance, but that was the nearest West Indies had come to taking Gilchrist’s wicket all day.

Impressive though his innings was, Gilchrist was utterly overshadowed by Ricky Ponting, who earlier became the fifth Australian to score a double-century in the Caribbean. The way Ponting had been batting, only an accident or a lapse of concentration could have dislodged him, and in fact, it required both.

On 206, Ponting attempted to sweep a wayward leg-side delivery from Marlon Samuels, paused for a moment, then sauntered out of his ground to jog a single. The wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh, however, had completed an impressive take and whipped off the bails as Ponting backflipped towards his crease. Umpire Asoka de Silva, who had been gazing idly towards the fine-leg boundary and may have helped fool Ponting into believing a run was on, acknowledged the appeal without bothering with a replay. He was fortunate not to have dropped his third clanger of the innings.

PONTING AND GILCHRIST PLOUGH ONWARDS
After a soul-destroying first day at the Queen’s Park Oval, in which West Indies conceded the better part of 400 runs with barely a murmur of resistance, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist added another 126 runs in a single session to leave Australia in absolute command of the second Test at Trinidad. By lunch they had rattled on to 517 for 3, as West Indies’s negative selection was ruthlessly exposed.

Ponting, who is currently batting with an authority scarcely rivalled in Test history, had jogged to within spitting distance of his first double century, while Gilchrist had eased to a run-a-ball 74, shrugging off a half-baked attempt to rough him up. The closest West Indies came to a wicket all morning was a brace of stifled appeals for a leg-side catch against Ponting, and a top-edged hook from Gilchrist that cleared the man patrolling the square-leg boundary.

Long before Ponting and Gilchrist were into their stride, West Indies emitted a heavy air of resignation. Early wickets were nothing less than a necessity, but Brian Lara’s early approach was somewhat perverse. Although the new ball was ready and waiting, he offered up a 25-minute net with the diffident offspin of Marlon Samuels, and it was only when Vasbert Drakes rapped Ponting on the knuckles with a mischievous lifter, that Lara was prompted to change his approach.

Ponting duly eased Samuels off his legs to trot through to his third score of 150 in eight Tests, and by lunch he was just two runs short of the highest of his 16 Test centuries, his 197 against Pakistan at Perth in 1999-2000. Gilchrist meanwhile was revelling in a rare foray up the order – this was his sixth Test innings in Australia’s top five, and at No. 5 alone, he now averages 156.

After a watchful first half-hour - the day’s first boundary didn’t arrive until the eighth over - Australia were unstoppable. The pitch continued to show the odd sign of unevenness, but the bowlers were incapable of forcing the merest of openings. A long, hot and bothersome afternoon is in prospect.