Adelaide: Josh Hazlewood's impressive outing with the ball in the Adelaide Test helped Australia secure a victory by 10 wickets on Friday over West Indies. The hosts won the game before lunch on the third day of the first Test as the Australian opener amassed 26 runs required to win inside seven overs.
Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja almost completed the total for Australia before the latter was retired hurt after being hit by a bouncer. Marnus Labuschagne hit the winning runs two balls later and Australia took a 1-0 lead in the series. West Indies were already reeling at 73 for six before stumps on the second day and the Australian pacers continued their lethal spells on the third day to play a key role in guiding the team to a win.
Hazlewood was the star of the show for Australia as he scalped nine wickets throughout the fixture. The pacer expressed delight after the game and stated that the wicket was nice and he enjoyed bowling on the surface.
" It was nice to bowl on a wicket like that. (On whether he’s ever bowled any better) Probably not, I felt I bowled well in the first part of the summer without much reward. I think the wickets throughout have been really good. (On Shamar Joseph) Amazing debut, very impressive and to start off by getting Smithy's first ball is just great," he said in the post-match presentation.
Cummins stated that there was a lot on offer for bowlers on the surface.
"Great Test match. It was a wicket where you always felt like one would leap and could get even a set batter out. Travis Head set it up for us, I don't think anyone else got over 50. Hazlewood was on fire, he got it done in just one spell," he said.
West Indies were on the verge of an innings defeat on Day 3 when they were reduced to 94 for nine. However, Shamar Joseph and Kemar Roach formed a partnership of 26 runs for the last wicket to avoid such an occurrence. Australia were given a target of 26 runs in the last inning and they completed it without breaking a sweat.
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