Latest news with #KensingtonOval
Times of Oman
an hour ago
- Sport
- Times of Oman
Cummins picks Australia's "special" player after wrapping up "great" Test against WI with victory
Bridgetown: Australia captain Pat Cummins was all in praise of "special" Josh Hazlewood, who ripped through the West Indies batting unit in what turned out to be a "great" Test, ending with the Baggy Greens cruising to a 159-run triumph with consummate ease at Kensington Oval. After getting off to a dodgy start in the first innings, Australia managed to get into a position to challenge the West Indies in the battle for authority. But the tourists eventually gained control, thanks to their experience and winning pedigree. After Travis Head (61), Beau Webster (63) and Alex Carey (65) fuelled Australia's second innings to 310, Hazelwood took the onus of enthralling the fans by orchestrating a classic pace onslaught. With his textbook line and lengths, Hazlwood rattled the Caribbean stars to make quick work of their batting order and forced the hosts to pack on 141 in 33.4 overs. The seasoned quick returned with sizzling figures of 5/43 in the second innings to ensure Australia successfully defended the 301-run target. "He's special (on Josh Hazlewood), if there's anything in the pitch, he has a good presentation of the seam, bowls the perfect lengths and keeps impressing. He's come off runs in the Sheffield Shield (on Beau Webster), he's got runs in different conditions and keeps keeping the scoreboard ticking," Cummins said after the match. The West Indies managed to escape with a slender 10-run lead after bundling out Australia on 180 and piling up 190 on the board in the first innings. However, Australia's resilient middle-order responded boldly and ran away with the game in the second innings to turn the contest into a seemingly one-sided affair. However, for Cummins, the majority of the Test was an "even fight" between both sides. "I think it was a great Test, thought it would be a tight day coming into the game today, we played well though. But for most of the Test, it was an even fight. I thought we could get to 200, but the way the boys batted. Carey out there, I thought we had enough," he added. Australia will have five days of rest before embarking on their next assignment, the second Test, against the West Indies, which begins on July 3. Cummins laid out their plans for the short period and said, "We'll have a couple of days off, a short turnaround for the next game, we'll fly down over there in a couple of days, have a look at the conditions and plan for the next game."
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Aussie cricket great slams national batting coach after poor showing in West Indies during first Test - 'need to create sound techniques'
Australian cricket great Ian Healy has torched national batting coach Michael Di Venuto, adamant the top six has 'regressed' under his tutelage at Test level. The West Indies' seam bowlers exposed the likes of Sam Konstas, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis in Barbados, with the Aussies having to lean on decorated pace trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood to avoid a potential shock defeat at Kensington Oval. It follows underwhelming scores of 212 and 207 in the World Test Championship final defeat at the hands of South Africa earlier this month at Lord's. Australia dropped Marnus Labuschagne for Konstas, but the teenager has looked out of his depth at the crease. Healy stressed he doesn't like to 'put the pump on coaches', but firmly believes the Aussies have gone backwards with the bat under Di Venuto. 'I love to put it back onto the players more than coaches usually,' Healy said on SEN. 'But, as I said, Australian cricket's batting head coach - and every state batting coach - should be under pressure because there's not enough runs being scored around the nation either. 'Michael Di Venuto – a friend of mine who is a good coach and a good man – has held the job since mid-2021. 'In this time, our national team batting has regressed in performance at Test level. 'All that's important to me is the performance. 'I don't care how you do it or what will make it easier for you – just get it done.' Healy added the Aussie Test stars look nervous and are not backing their techniques. The scrappy performances leave fans understandably nervous ahead of the Ashes this summer. 'They're not making it easy for themselves at all, players have got to deal better with nerves by the sound of it,' Healy said. 'They need to create sound techniques and bat with balance so you can make really sound decisions ball after ball for long periods. 'At the moment, we're failing many of these points, and the lower order is having to deal with it - either recovering the score or losing. 'It's just too hard at the moment, we've got to clear those minds of our top order.' Healy has been outspoken in recent days, but was left red-faced after launching an astonishing attack on West Indies paceman Shamar Joseph, declaring the raw quick 'isn't Curtly Ambrose.'
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Cricket: Australia crush West Indies in Barbados
The Australian cricket team celebrate a win in the first test against the West Indies at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 27 2025. Photo: RANDY BROOKS Australia ruthlessly completed a 159-run victory over West Indies in the first test, with Nathan Lyon sweeping up the tail after Josh Hazlewood's five-wicket masterclass broke the hosts' resistance on a pitch that deteriorated into a bowler's paradise. Lyon claimed the final two wickets in consecutive deliveries, ending Shamar Joseph's entertaining knock at 44 from just 22 balls, as West Indies were dismissed for 141 chasing an improbable 301 to hand Australia a 1-0 series lead. "There was enough in the wicket, up-and-down from a length," said Hazlewood, who finished with figures of five for 43. "It's just about hitting that area time and time again and being patient. I'm just enjoying cricket, tests at the moment. Good team, atmosphere. "I think once we saw West Indies take the second new ball today, we thought things could happen, but not that fast. There's a few cracks on a length from one end, some went low and we got a few bowled and lbws." Hazlewood's victims included John Campbell (caught behind attempting a scoop), Brandon King (edging to gully first ball), Roston Chase (popping to short leg) and Keacy Carty (bowled by vicious seam movement), before completing his 13th test five-wicket haul by having Warrican caught at slip. Pat Cummins added Shai Hope's wicket with another delivery that kept fatally low, while substitute fielder Marnus Labuschagne's direct hit ran out Alzarri Joseph to underline Australia's superiority in all departments. Earlier, Australia had methodically constructed their match-winning position through intelligent batting across three sessions. Beau Webster (63) and Travis Head (61) forged the match's first century partnership before Head was left sprawled face-down by a Shamar Joseph delivery that scuttled beneath his bat. Alex Carey's enterprising 65, featuring a spectacular six onto the stadium roof, effectively sealed the contest despite Joseph claiming his own five-wicket haul with a tireless display of seam bowling. The day's dramatic shifts perfectly encapsulated test cricket's unpredictability, from morning resistance to afternoon collapse, with Australia demonstrating precisely why they remain the format's benchmark team. - Reuters
ABC News
11 hours ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Australia's first Test win came down to skill — theirs held up, the West Indies' didn't
For a match that appeared evenly poised at the end of day two, Australia's crushing 153-run Test victory over the West Indies was remarkable in its scale. Mid-way through day two of the first Test in Barbados, the hosts held a 10-run first innings lead. Australia had been bowled out for just 180 on the first day having won the toss and batted. In the second innings, the visitors were 4-65 after another woeful top order batting display. A thrilling Test match was assured, wasn't it? Alas, Test match cricket does nothing if not exploit and expose the inadequacies between the very best and the rest — and Josh Hazlewood is very much among the best. The 34-year-old was absolutely unplayable on a wearing, minefield of a pitch. His five-over second spell was almost mythical, a fitting addition to the tapestry that is the Kensington Oval, one of the world's most storied Test grounds. But the game was in the balance — a couple of quick wickets and Australia would have been defending a far more modest score than the 301 runs they managed to accrue. The hardest thing for the West Indies to accept may well be that the chance to take that early wicket presented itself in the fourth over of the day. Travis Head, on 21, gifted an edge to second slip off the bowling of Alzarri Joseph. Justin Greaves at second slip did what too many of his teammates had done throughout the Test. He dropped it cold. The West Indies were, unfortunately, found lacking in the basic skills of the game — catching. It's a troubling issue and one that is not unknown to the West Indies. The host broadcaster showed a graphic before the start of play on day three that highlighted that the West Indies were the worst catchers in Test cricket at slips and gully, snaring just 65.6 per cent of their chances in Tests since 2023. In this Test they caught a truly woeful 36 per cent of their chances in that area. In a game where the hosts put seven catches down, how does one determine which was the defining drop of the contest? The first? That one shelled by Brendon King no doubt set the tone for the shambles that followed. But realistically it was the one on that third morning. Australia was 4-107 at he time, their lead under 100. Head went on to score 61, his second half century of the match as part of a 102-run partnership with Beau Webster. While Head continued where he left off with his first innings, Webster's half century was just a continuation of the norm for what has been a superb start to Test cricket. Victim to a brute of a ball in the first innings to be out for 11, in this second stint he was immense. In what was just his eighth Test match innings, the 31-year-old Tasmanian scored his third half century and did so with impressive composure. His height allows him to easily get down the pitch and his timing through the covers was simply sublime. With two crucial wickets in the West Indies batting innings on day two already under his belt, the man from Snug is looking increasingly secure in that all rounder role. Alex Carey also impressed with a well-paced counter attacking display that saw him shift roles three times throughout his stay. After playing the supporting role to Webster early and stepping back into that familiar tail end hand holder at the end of his stay, he still blasted a 40-ball half century — his fastest in Tests — with the final 40 runs coming in 15 balls, including a monstrous six back over Jayden Seales' head that crashed into the sightscreen. It was a brutal display of power that illustrated just how valuable he is down at number seven, the Jekyll and Hyde position that has to adapt and shift to the circumstances in front of him. But the impetus Australia managed to gain still, arguably, came from that dropped catch in the first hour. After day two, coach Daren Sammy rightly pointing out that his team were "shooting ourselves in the foot" more than anything else. The 38-Test capped Saint Lucian may have hoped that by vocalising the issue his team would holster their self-destructive weapons for day three. Instead, they loaded them right back up and continued to aim at their own boots. The honour board of West Indian catching incompetence for this Test is lengthy and frustrating, a blight on the heroes of 1975 who were being honoured on the 50th anniversary of the West Indies' Cricket World Cup triumph in 1975 at the ground on the opening day. Brandon King, on debut, had three entries in the first day: Cameron Green (0), Usman Khawaja (45) and Nathan Lyon (3). Fortunately for him, those particular drops cost the West Indies just 11 runs. The skipper, Roston Chase, was not so lucky — Khawaja added 41 more runs after he was dropped on 6 by him at first slip. On day two, add John Campbell at third slip and Justin Greaves at second both dropped Sam Konstas in a single Shamar Joseph over while he was on 0. Again, to the West Indies' relief, Konstas failed to capitalise, only managing another 5 runs before being bowled. Head was a different story. "Holding onto that catch could have changed the game," former West Indies player Carlos Brathwaite said on ESPN. So was it the catching that has cost the West Indies the match? It's clearly not the only thing given Australia's bowling brilliance. As the Kensington Oval pitch began to crumble, Hazlewood came to the fore. Hazlewood's recent susceptibility to injury has given Australia a look ahead to a near future where this brilliant pace-bowling trio will no longer be around. But his phenomenal five-over spell of 4-5 showed that Australia still needs him. Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins also claimed wickets among the seamers, but the strength of this pace triumvirate is its ability to work together. But it was that brilliant burst from the Tamworth tearaway that caught the eye most. On a pitch offering plenty of assistance, its erratic nature was exploited by the kind of unerring accuracy that has become this seam attack's signature characteristic. Should the West Indies first innings lead have been more? Undoubtedly, the desperately poor third umpiring decisions made by Adrian Holdstock that may yet result in the West Indies issuing a formal complaint against the South African no doubt cruelled any prospect that the West Indies had of turning that narrow lead into one that was far more substantial. "Me and Shai Hope, we were having a good partnership and then, obviously a few calls set us back a bit," Chase said at the post-match presentation. "I still thought we did well to get the lead, but we couldn't put any batting innings together." That much is true, but the West Indies must also take ownership of their own frailties — such a woeful catching display will rarely lead to Test victories against a team of Australia's calibre. The second Test in Grenada gets underway on July 4. Not a long enough break to cure the catching woes. But perhaps short enough to get back on the horse and make things right through their own actions.
Washington Post
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Hazlewood 5-for leads Australia to three-day win over West Indies in Barbados test
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Australia blew away the West Indies for 141 and won the first test by 159 runs at Kensington Oval on day three Friday. The West Indies was set a stressful 301 target to win on a tricky pitch and folded in 33.4 overs. The chief destroyer was seamer Josh Hazlewood with 5-43 from 12 overs.
