Australia were 40 for two at lunch in their second innings on the fourth day of the second Test against West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval on Wednesday. Ed Cowan was 14 not out with Ricky Ponting on 8 as Australia extended their lead to 94 runs. Earlier, West Indies were left trailing Australia by 54 runs after being bowled out for 257 in their first innings on the fourth morning.
Carlton Baugh was dismissed lbw for 21 with just the fourth ball of the morning by Michael Beer. He had hit the previous ball for four but missed a sweep shot. Beer finished with 2-56 while Nathan Lyon, after his spell of 5-15 on Tuesday, took 5-68. Shivranine Chanderpaul top scored for the West Indies with 94. A spell of five for sixteen by Lyon put Australia in charge on Tuesday. It was the first time that Lyon had taken five wickets in an innings since his debut Test in Sri Lanka.
“I’m over the moon, even though I didn’t run around like I did in Galle,” Lyon said. “Still over the moon and really happy with the way things panned out but, saying that, we’ve still got a lot of work to do to win this Test match.”
West Indies finished the day at 252 for nine, still trailing by 59 runs, having, at one point, looked as though they would have a lead after a sterling fifth partnership work from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine roused home hope before tea. But Lyon gave Australia a good chance of wrapping up the three-match series after they won the first Test in Barbados. The Decision Review System (DRS) caused controversy before a ball had even been bowled. There were 5.3 overs still to be sent down from the previous day following rain on Monday, with the West Indies due to resume on 49-3.
Michael Beer was set to bowl the first ball when everyone started walking back off the field, as it transpired that there was no power supply for the cameras and hence DRS was not available. After much discussion, power was restored and play resumed with only 20 minutes lost.
The first major incident on the field happened in Lyon’s third over of the morning. He found the edge of Chanderpaul’s bat and the ball hit wicket-keeper Matthew Wade on the left thigh before deflecting straight to Michael Clarke at first slip, but the Australia captain was unable to re-adjust. After about an hour’s play, Clarke turned to his support bowlers, with Mike Hussey coming on at one end and Shane Watson at the other.
The tactic worked. With the fifth ball of his second over, Hussey appeared to have Darren Bravo plumb lbw for 38. In a desperate decision the batsman decided to use the DRS but to no avail. The 62-run fourth-wicket partnership had been broken and all four dismissals had been lbw.
Chanderpaul and Deonarine then almost saw their hard work undone in a risky moment off the last ball before lunch. Chanderpaul pushed wide of mid-on, where Hussey swooped and threw to Wade, who broke the wicket. Deonarine just made his ground. After lunch, the West Indies batsmen started to attack and in the 14 overs before rain arrived, the fifth wicket partnership produced another 56 runs. David Warner was finally given a bowl in the 74th over having taken two wickets in the first Test and his first delivery here struck Deonarine on the pads. Surprisingly, Clarke decided to review the decision after it had been given not out. It was ambitious as the batsman was down the wicket and it was no surprise when it was not overturned. Following a ninety-minute rain delay, the one hundred partnership was brought up when Chanderpaul swung Michael Beer for a six over mid-wicket.
