Cricket
Aussies survive Windies scare
2009-12-20 07:36
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Australia beat the West Indies by 35 runs on the fifth morning of the third and final test at the WACA, Perth, on Sunday, taking the series 2-0.
Resuming on 308/9 overnight, Gavin Tonge and Kemar Roach could survive only three-and-a-bit overs before a controversial referral saw Roach being given out caught by Brad Haddin off Doug Bollinger for 17 to conclude the series.
On-field umpire Billy Bowden gave roach out after an appeal for caught behind, but the batsman felt differently and asked for the decision to be referred.
No conclusive evidence of a nick could be produced by either Hot Spot or Snicko, and the on-field decision therefore had to stand.
Irony is that had Roach been given not out, and Australia referred the decision, Roach would still have been there as no conclusive evidence was found that he nicked the ball.
In the end, Bollinger finished with 3/71 and Mitchell Johnson had 3/67.
After easily winning at the 'Gabba, hanging on for a draw in Adelaide, the hosts were made to sweat to seal the series in Perth.
Chris Gayle is the Player of the Match for an astonishing century in the first innings.
"Congrats to Ricky and his team, you guys played better cricket," says Gayle. He goes on to praise his team-mates "I'm really happy for the guys and the way they played but very disappointed as well ... I want to commend Adrian Barath on his first hundred .. Kemar Roach did really well as well."
Gayle - also named Player of the Series - rated his two hundreds in this series among his top five innings.
Ponting felt his team played in two very even test matches. "I think the fans around Australia have seen some very good cricket in the last couple of weeks."
Australia will now take on Pakistan with the first of three test matches starting on December 26 in Melbourne.
CLICK HERE for the full scorecard.
Teams:
Australia: Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger.
West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Travis Dowlin, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Dwayne Bravo, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Gavin Tonge, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach.