Australia build commanding lead in West Indies Test as hosts pay for errors / Photo: Randy Brooks - AFP
Australia build commanding lead in West Indies Test as hosts pay for errors
Australia moved into a 171-run lead at lunch on the third day of the first Test at the Kensington Oval on Friday as dropped catches continued to plague the West Indies.
Having trailed at the midway point by just 10 runs, the tourists now hold a commanding lead as they progressed to 181-5 in their second innings.
Travis Head and Beau Webster batted through most of the morning in a fifth-wicket stand of 102 -- the first century partnership of the match.
Head was the lone wicket to fall, trapped lbw for 61 by Shamar Joseph 20 minutes before the interval.
Webster will resume after lunch on 49, alongside wicketkeeper Alex Carey on 8.
However, the course of the first session could have been very different had Justin Greaves held on to another straightforward catch at second slip off Alzarri Joseph when Head was on 22.
It was the seventh chance put down by the West Indies slip cordon so far in the match, a poor showing in one of the fundamental aspects of the game which began on day one when four catches were shelled.
That error within the first half-hour of the day's play seemed to deflate the Caribbean side and the pairing of Head and Webster -- resuming overnight on 92-4 -- capitalised with determined, purposeful batting.
Putting his faith almost entirely in the faster bowlers available to him, home captain Roston Chase only introduced the team's lone specialist spinner, Jomel Warrican, for his first bowl of the match when the duo were within sight of reaching the 100-run mark in their partnership.
B.Ernst--BVZ
