ADELAIDE: Top-ranked Australia dismissed an outclassed West Indies for just 77 Sunday to win the day-night second Test in Adelaide by 419 runs and seal the series 2-0.
The visitors resumed day four on 38-4 and were all out in the first session with Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser doing the damage to end a lopsided campaign.
Australia won the first Test at Perth by 164 runs.
“Nice start to the summer, we get an extra day or two (rest) which is handy. But great individual and team performances,” said pace spearhead Starc. “The batters set up both games perfectly.”
Defeat ended the reign of West Indies head coach Phil Simmons, who announced his intention to quit after their disastrous recent Twenty20 World Cup campaign, when they exited in the first round.
Simmons led the West Indies to victory in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, and then returned as coach for a second stint in 2019.
Australia took a stranglehold on day one when Travis Head smacked 175 and Marnus Labuschagne hit 163 and they never let up.
It propelled them to 511-7 declared with the visitors then dismissed for 214 before Australia posted a quickfire 199-6 to set the West Indies 497 to win.
The Caribbean side were never in the hunt after Scott Boland sent down a sensational three-wicket maiden under the lights on Friday evening to leave them decimated.
Devon Thomas and Jason Holder, both on eight, trudged out on an overcast Sunday still 459 runs adrift, with defeat just a matter of time.
Thomas only survived 11 balls, adding four runs before attempting to drive a wide Starc delivery only to edge to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Australia declare at 511-7 in 2nd West Indies Test
Starc was a constant threat, routinely beating the bat, and he knocked Holder’s stump out of the ground on 11 with a cracking ball to leave the West Indies reeling on 49-6.
Carey held a juggling catch from Neser to remove Roston Chase for 13 with the same pair combining again to halt Joshua Da Silva on 15 in the same over.
Lyon bowled Alzarri Joseph before Carey and Neser again worked their magic to snare Marquino Mindley and end the game.
Landmark
It culminated a dominant win for Australia notable for several landmarks, with Labuschagne becoming the second-fastest man to 3,000 Test runs behind only the great Donald Bradman.
The focused number three slammed 204, 104, 163, and 31 in his four series innings to cap a sensational run which elevated him above England’s Joe Root as the number one Test batsman in the world.
Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon also set a record as the most successful bowler at the Adelaide Oval since the revered ground opened its doors in 1873, surpassing Shane Warne’s 56 wickets.
There were few bright lights for the West Indies, although the emergence of impressive opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who made his debut in Perth, was a big plus point.
They were otherwise lacklustre, hampered by a slew of injuries that depleted their bowling stocks, again failing to snap 25-year winless Test streak on Australian soil.
While they head home, Australia move to Brisbane, with an extra day’s rest, to face South Africa from Friday in the first of three Tests which should provide stiffer competition.
Skipper Pat Cummins, who missed Adelaide with a thigh niggle, is expected to be fit, but there are lingering concerns over fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood who continues to struggle with a side strain.
If he does not recover, either Neser or Boland are set to replace him.
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