PERTH, Australia-YESTERDAY’S (Dec. 20) final four overs of the third Test between West Indies and Australia may have been brief, but they were filled with drama as the hosts secured a 2-0 series win by 35 runs.
West Indies began the day at 308/9, needing 51 runs from the final wicket partnership between Gavin Tonge and Kemar Roach to obtain the series leveling win.
The pair of West Indian bowlers were not expected to put up much fight against the refreshed Australian pace bowlers on the already decayed WACA pitch, but managed to make for an exciting morning in spite of everything.
Shane Watson bowled the first over for Australia superbly as he prevented Roach from even earning a single after the duo had amassed 29 from 30 balls the previous day.
Tonge played much less defensively than his partner in the second over and began the runs flowing again as he faced Doug Bollinger. The fast-medium bowler was nearly out on his final ball from Bollinger, edging the delivery past Michael Hussey at gully for his fifth run of the over.
Tonge followed up in the next over against Watson and edged a boundary to rally the team spirit. The emboldened Tonge popped up his final ball of the over and was nearly caught out by Nathan Hauritz, but managed to escape when the fielder could not quite reach the ball in time and two more runs were added.
Roach continued the devil may care spirit as he sliced Bollinger for another four to pull West Indies within 36 runs of victory, but the celebration was short lived. The Australians appealed when the next ball appeared to be edged and caught behind, and they were given the out.
West Indies called for a review of the ball, but the video replays were inconclusive as to whether or not the ball was edged. Both teams waited tensely to hear the final decision and it was ultimately given to the hosts, as standard protocol is to stand by the on-field call if the replays are not decisive.
The lost replay meant that West Indies ended the Test at 312 and 323 for their innings, while Australia won by 35 runs after having scored 7 for 520 declared and 150.
Following the match, West Indies Captain Chris Gayle was awarded both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards, largely for his 70-ball century in the first innings of the third Test.
Gayle thanked his players for their very competitive effort and said that they had earned the respect of both Australia and the wider world after the drawn out impasse within the West Indies over the past year had called the region’s ability to compete at the highest level into question.
Australia Captain Ricky Ponting echoed those sentiments and said that local fans had seen high quality cricket for much of the series.
“I think they've shown a bit of character, even the young blokes coming in have stood up when they've needed to. They've played some good cricket over the last couple of weeks and they need to be credited for that,” he said of the challengers following the series win.
