Australia’s bowlers gave the side an 82-run lead over the West Indies heading into the second innings – and with what has been happening with the ball, that could very well be the match-winning difference in the end.
But the visitors cannot take anything for granted, especially given that their own collapse was just as dreadful on a dramatic Day 2 of the third and final Test.
The middle order scraped their way to the end of play at 6/99 leaving them with a lead of 181 at stumps.
Like it has been for most of the series, batting continued to be difficult for both sides, with 15 wickets falling as the pink ball was proving to be very difficult just for survival, let alone scoring.
There seems to be no answer in sight to Australia’s top order problems, with openers Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja again falling cheaply, as the Windies pace attack provided flashbacks of the glory days of the 1970-90s.
Steve Smith looked shaken up by some ‘chin music’ before being clean bowled, as the hosts showed they could be just as damaging as the Aussie pace attack under lights.
The hosts made a solid start to the day, building on the stumps score of 1/16, getting to 2/58, but it slowly started to decline after that as the Australian quicks gathered pace.
But it wasn’t always perfect, with the tourists suffering a few near misses with edges onto pads and dropping their own chances.
Scott Boland was playing with fire, with a few no-ball problems on key deliveries. First, West Indies skipper Roston Chase edged the ball onto his pads, which looked quite close to being plumb, before it was called an illegal delivery.
He then had a huge appeal for caught behind, which was given out by the on-field umpire. West Indies skipper Roston Chase reviewed instantly, but before they could get to review the edge, the third umpire found he had overstepped again.
The replay, however, would have saved the batsman with the two noises that the umpire heard coming from both pads, and there was no bat.
But skipper Pat Cummins eventually got the breakthrough. After a close shout for LBW that was turned down in the 27th over, he managed to find the outside edge as Khawaja held on to remove Chase.
The hosts went to tea at 3/73, but it was all Australia after the break. Boland secured his first wicket, with DRS unable to save John Campbell from a plumb LBW decision.
Hazlewood chimed in with his second wicket of the innings when Mikyle Louis attempted a shocker of a shot. The batsman planted his feet and tried to heave the ball over the leg side but had an air swing and soon heard the death rattle of the stumps.
After putting down a catch earlier in the innings, Alex Carey put down another off Boland. But the quick hit back in perfect style, clipping the top of the stumps to dismiss Shai Hope on 23, and the Windies were six down.
Not helping the free-fall was poor running. Justin Greaves hit the ball towards the boundary, which was cut off by Konstas. But the batsmen tried to steal a third run, only for the perfect throw back in for Boland to knock the bails off with him short of his ground.
Boland wrapped up the innings with his third wicket, team-high haul of 3/34. It was the final blow in a dramatic collapse, losing seven wickets for just 61 runs to give Australia an 82-run lead.
“I think it’s inexplicable to be honest,” Carlos Brathwaite said on ESPN during the innings break.
“No longer after two and a half Tests can you just say Australia’s bowlers have been good.
“We have seen their batters finding ways, even their junior batters.
“These guys play here year in year out, and I expected to see better. There were opportunities to grind… with the best of the batting conditions, you have to give more.”
Former Australian Test player Greg Blewett added: “I know that Australia are relentless, they’ve played the four quick bowlers.
“But under those conditions, to lose 7/70, there was no excuse for that at all. We saw some really poor batting to be honest.”
But if the West Indies batting was horrendous, the start from the Aussies was not much better.
With pressure building on Sam Konstas in just his fifth Test, he backed up his 17 in the first innings with a five-ball duck in the second, after a thick edge went to Chase at gully.
His opening partner, Khawaja, hit two boundaries on his way to 14, but was then clean bowled by Shamar Joseph, who had his second inside six overs.
It brought Steve Smith to the crease, and instantly the bowlers were giving him some ‘chin music’. The short tactics of using controlled aggression and speed consistently in the mid-140s appeared to rattle both batsmen.
It wasn’t long before Alzarri Joseph got the breakthrough, cleaning up the stumps to send Smudge back to the pavilion for just five off 13 deliveries.
Travis Head and Cam Green put on a 22-run stand, but just as they were starting to look set, Head was dismissed after edging the ball to the slips. The umpires wanted to check if it had carried, but it only delayed the inevitable.
It was a similar story from Beau Webster; he got a start to get to 13, but he too had his stumps cleaned up by another perfect delivery from Alzarri Joseph.
Australia were in trouble at five down with a lead of just 151.
It was a painful start to the innings for Alex Carey, who needed medical treatment after copping a nasty blow on the helmet.
He had one more delivery before a crazy shot where he charged down the pitch, slashing at the ball only to get the outside edge and throw his wicket away.
There was some luck for Australia, though; the West Indies had half an appeal after the ball went down the leg side from a Cummins shot. It was turned down, and there was no review, only for Ultra Edge to find that the ball had brushed the glove.
It’s that sort of luck Australia will need to try and get the lead over 200 runs – but with the pitch just two days old, the West Indies thinks a score around that mark is chaseable.
