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an hour ago
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Hazlewood bowls Aussies to victory in Windies opener
A bowling masterclass from Josh Hazlewood has helped Australia claim a resounding 159-run victory over the West Indies on day three of the Test series opener in Bridgetown. After a hotly contested first two days, Australia dominated on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT) with Hazlewood taking 5-43 as the tourists bowled their hosts out for 141 in their second dig. The Windies were thwarted by a collapse of 6-26 in pursuit of 301 for victory, but were boosted by Australia's frequent tormentor Shamar Joseph who cracked 44 runs off 22 balls - including four sixes - in a furious cameo at No.10. Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon (2-20) struck twice in the final over of the day to seal a win that helped Australia overcome their shock loss in the WTC final and start the three-match series on a high. The tourists are likely to regain the injured Steve Smith for the second Test that begins in Grenada next week after his absence was glaring on a tough batting deck earlier in the match. But Australia posted a competitive second-innings total of 310 on day three thanks largely to middle-order trio Travis Head (61), Beau Webster (63) and Alex Carey (65). In the final session, Hazlewood took all four scalps in a West Indies batting implosion of 4-9 that devastated the hosts' middle order and had the veteran on a hat-trick at one stage. Hazlewood broke the best partnership among the recognised batters, a 43-run stand between Keacy Carty and John Campbell, when Campbell (23) played a daring lap shot straight into Carey's gloves. On Hazlewood's next ball, debutant Brandon King (0) caught a high inside edge to Cameron Green, who made up for dropping a sitter by leaping high at gully. Captain Roston Chase (2) could not replicate a solid first innings, caught from by Sam Konstas at short leg, before Hazlewood bowled the established batter Carty with a ball that seamed in on the tricky pitch. Axed from the XI, Marnus Labuschagne made a valuable contribution as a substitute fielder, whipping a direct hit at the stumps from the other end of the wicket to run Alzarri Joseph (0) out. Hazlewood completed his 13th Test "five-fer" when Jomel Warrican (3) edged to Carey the ball after surviving an lbw review. The end appeared nigh for West Indies when unlikely top-scorer Joseph edged Lyon to Usman Khawaja in the slips. Earlier, No.5 Head (61 off 95 balls) ignited Australia's fightback after the tourists went to stumps on day two in a precarious position at 4-92. Head was trapped lbw by a low delivery from cult hero paceman Joseph (5-87), who was again the West Indies' most important bowler after his match-winning heroics in Brisbane 17 months ago. Showing impressive patience, the usually furious Head had been given a life earlier, spilt by Justin Greaves on 21 as one one of the hosts' seven dropped catches for the match. After bringing up a third Test half-century, towering allrounder Webster (63 off 120) fell to an unfortunate tickle down the leg side as Joseph picked up his third wicket. Carey, displaying some exciting stroke-making, was out caught in the deep by Greaves off Chase - the only Australian wicket that fell to spin for the match. A bowling masterclass from Josh Hazlewood has helped Australia claim a resounding 159-run victory over the West Indies on day three of the Test series opener in Bridgetown. After a hotly contested first two days, Australia dominated on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT) with Hazlewood taking 5-43 as the tourists bowled their hosts out for 141 in their second dig. The Windies were thwarted by a collapse of 6-26 in pursuit of 301 for victory, but were boosted by Australia's frequent tormentor Shamar Joseph who cracked 44 runs off 22 balls - including four sixes - in a furious cameo at No.10. Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon (2-20) struck twice in the final over of the day to seal a win that helped Australia overcome their shock loss in the WTC final and start the three-match series on a high. The tourists are likely to regain the injured Steve Smith for the second Test that begins in Grenada next week after his absence was glaring on a tough batting deck earlier in the match. But Australia posted a competitive second-innings total of 310 on day three thanks largely to middle-order trio Travis Head (61), Beau Webster (63) and Alex Carey (65). In the final session, Hazlewood took all four scalps in a West Indies batting implosion of 4-9 that devastated the hosts' middle order and had the veteran on a hat-trick at one stage. Hazlewood broke the best partnership among the recognised batters, a 43-run stand between Keacy Carty and John Campbell, when Campbell (23) played a daring lap shot straight into Carey's gloves. On Hazlewood's next ball, debutant Brandon King (0) caught a high inside edge to Cameron Green, who made up for dropping a sitter by leaping high at gully. Captain Roston Chase (2) could not replicate a solid first innings, caught from by Sam Konstas at short leg, before Hazlewood bowled the established batter Carty with a ball that seamed in on the tricky pitch. Axed from the XI, Marnus Labuschagne made a valuable contribution as a substitute fielder, whipping a direct hit at the stumps from the other end of the wicket to run Alzarri Joseph (0) out. Hazlewood completed his 13th Test "five-fer" when Jomel Warrican (3) edged to Carey the ball after surviving an lbw review. The end appeared nigh for West Indies when unlikely top-scorer Joseph edged Lyon to Usman Khawaja in the slips. Earlier, No.5 Head (61 off 95 balls) ignited Australia's fightback after the tourists went to stumps on day two in a precarious position at 4-92. Head was trapped lbw by a low delivery from cult hero paceman Joseph (5-87), who was again the West Indies' most important bowler after his match-winning heroics in Brisbane 17 months ago. Showing impressive patience, the usually furious Head had been given a life earlier, spilt by Justin Greaves on 21 as one one of the hosts' seven dropped catches for the match. After bringing up a third Test half-century, towering allrounder Webster (63 off 120) fell to an unfortunate tickle down the leg side as Joseph picked up his third wicket. Carey, displaying some exciting stroke-making, was out caught in the deep by Greaves off Chase - the only Australian wicket that fell to spin for the match. A bowling masterclass from Josh Hazlewood has helped Australia claim a resounding 159-run victory over the West Indies on day three of the Test series opener in Bridgetown. After a hotly contested first two days, Australia dominated on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT) with Hazlewood taking 5-43 as the tourists bowled their hosts out for 141 in their second dig. The Windies were thwarted by a collapse of 6-26 in pursuit of 301 for victory, but were boosted by Australia's frequent tormentor Shamar Joseph who cracked 44 runs off 22 balls - including four sixes - in a furious cameo at No.10. Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon (2-20) struck twice in the final over of the day to seal a win that helped Australia overcome their shock loss in the WTC final and start the three-match series on a high. The tourists are likely to regain the injured Steve Smith for the second Test that begins in Grenada next week after his absence was glaring on a tough batting deck earlier in the match. But Australia posted a competitive second-innings total of 310 on day three thanks largely to middle-order trio Travis Head (61), Beau Webster (63) and Alex Carey (65). In the final session, Hazlewood took all four scalps in a West Indies batting implosion of 4-9 that devastated the hosts' middle order and had the veteran on a hat-trick at one stage. Hazlewood broke the best partnership among the recognised batters, a 43-run stand between Keacy Carty and John Campbell, when Campbell (23) played a daring lap shot straight into Carey's gloves. On Hazlewood's next ball, debutant Brandon King (0) caught a high inside edge to Cameron Green, who made up for dropping a sitter by leaping high at gully. Captain Roston Chase (2) could not replicate a solid first innings, caught from by Sam Konstas at short leg, before Hazlewood bowled the established batter Carty with a ball that seamed in on the tricky pitch. Axed from the XI, Marnus Labuschagne made a valuable contribution as a substitute fielder, whipping a direct hit at the stumps from the other end of the wicket to run Alzarri Joseph (0) out. Hazlewood completed his 13th Test "five-fer" when Jomel Warrican (3) edged to Carey the ball after surviving an lbw review. The end appeared nigh for West Indies when unlikely top-scorer Joseph edged Lyon to Usman Khawaja in the slips. Earlier, No.5 Head (61 off 95 balls) ignited Australia's fightback after the tourists went to stumps on day two in a precarious position at 4-92. Head was trapped lbw by a low delivery from cult hero paceman Joseph (5-87), who was again the West Indies' most important bowler after his match-winning heroics in Brisbane 17 months ago. Showing impressive patience, the usually furious Head had been given a life earlier, spilt by Justin Greaves on 21 as one one of the hosts' seven dropped catches for the match. After bringing up a third Test half-century, towering allrounder Webster (63 off 120) fell to an unfortunate tickle down the leg side as Joseph picked up his third wicket. Carey, displaying some exciting stroke-making, was out caught in the deep by Greaves off Chase - the only Australian wicket that fell to spin for the match.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Munster's Tom Ahern eyes Ireland debut amid injury setbacks
Anyone who has watched the progress of Tom Ahern's rugby career will have emitted another sigh at Friday's Ireland squad update ahead of next Saturday's Test against Georgia. The Munster lock/flanker's efforts to make his Ireland debut have been repeatedly stymied by injury over the last two years and the latest news that the reason Connacht's Josh Murphy had joined Paul O'Connell's squad prior to Wednesday's departure for Tbilisi was to provide cover for Ahern's tight hamstring suggested a similar fate may befall the Waterford man's latest bid for Test recognition. The 25-year-old has not been ruled out and may well earn his first international cap over the next two Saturdays with Ireland set to face Portugal in Lisbon on July 12. Ahern has been nothing if not resilient in the past and spoke of his national squad travails earlier this week when he faced the media in camp at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Abbottstown. Named by head coach Andy Farrell as one of three uncapped training panellists alongside provincial team-mate Oli Jager and a certain Sam Prendergast ahead of the 2024 Six Nations, he was concussed against Northampton Saints in the match prior to entering camp. Then, a little more than four months after a string of strong performances for Munster had placed him in the frame for a spot in the summer touring squad to face the Springboks in South Africa, an ankle/lower leg injury against Ulster in the final round of the URC regular season scuppered his hopes of boarding the plane. 'Look, it's happened a couple of times now and obviously initially you're very disappointed but it's the nature of the game. You've got to pick yourself back up,' Ahern said. 'I've got a good support system around me and I'm going to move past that eventually and focus on the next job and try to eventually get back up here again.' Ahern did just that and is aiming to embrace his latest opportunity in the national camp. 'I'm buzzing to be honest. I've been unlucky with a couple of injuries but that's the nature of the game to be fair. 'I'm just taking these next couple of weeks in my stride and just delighted to be up here. 'I think the overall feeling is excitement. First, I'm excited to be up here and I think likewise with everybody else. A lot of lads getting their first opportunities up here and there's a great buzz around the place.' Ahern's candidacy for a place in the matchday 23 to face the Georgians remains strong and Munster's strong if ultimately disappointing end to the season has sent its 10-player contingent, led by tour captain Craig Casey, into camp in confident mood. Two big wins in their final URC league encounters secured Champions Cup rugby for next season and booked a return to play-offs, where the Sharks edged them out at the quarter-final stage in a goal-kicking shootout after the tie had finished 24-24 after extra time. 'It obviously didn't end the way that we wanted it, it's a tough way to go out but we were playing good rugby towards the end of the season and a lot of the lads that are up here were playing good ball as well,' Ahern said. 'So, we can take the confidence from everybody individually playing well and so hopefully we can bring it up here now.' With good fortune, that tight hamstring will not stand in his way, and if anyone deserved a slice of that, it is Ahern.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Western Force v British and Irish Lions: Five issues for the opening tour match
Cohesion After a less-than-fluid performance in defeat to Argentina at Dublin's Aviva Stadium last week, Andy Farrell will demand his tourists hit the ground running on Aussie soil this Saturday morning. A record contingent of eight starters from Ireland, led by captain Dan Sheehan, and with three more on the bench, should ensure a greater understanding than was seen eight days earlier from the more diverse selection which faced the Pumas. There is also an important Scottish midfield connection at 10 and 12 with chief playmaker Finn Russell at fly-half and Sione Tuipulotu at inside centre while there should be more fluency out wide with Garry Ringrose at outside centre to create opportunities for his compatriots James Lowe and Mack Hansen on the wings. Passes will need to stick for Farrell to judge this a step forward. Lineout One of the major letdowns for the Lions against Argentina was a misfiring lineout and head coach Farrell has given himself more potential variety in the set-piece menu by moving away from an all-groundhog back to row of three natural opensides with the switch of Tadhg Beirne from lock to blindside flanker. With Ollie Chessum a similar threat as a lock/flanker and Jack Conan both on the bench, the Lions can also spring some quality jumping operators for Sheehan to aim at while an extra week on the training field should also bring connectedness in the complex machine that is a Test lineout. It will be needed against a Western Force forward pack with a reputation for having one of Super Rugby's best defensive lineouts while they led the competition this season in terms of success on their own ball (88.6%). Wallaby lock Darcy Swain is missing regular partner and club skipper Jeremy Williams, kept back by the Australians, but is partnered in the second row by former Ulster and Wallaby player Sam Carter as they go up against Joe McCarthy and Scott Cummings. Youth and Experience Northampton Saints wonderkid Henry Pollock did not have the easiest of introductions off the Lions bench against Argentina but the 20-year-old with one England cap has been handed a start at No.8 alongside Ireland flankers Beirne and Josh van Flier. It caps a remarkable rise to prominence for a player who started the Six Nations for England Under-20s against the Irish in Cork on January 30. At the other end of the spectrum, tighthead prop Tadgh Furlong and full-back Elliot Daly embark on their third Lions tours having both played in all three Tests against both New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa four years ago. Englishman Daly enhanced his Test credentials for 2025 with a strong performance off the bench against Argentina while Furlong came on tour having had his season ruined by calf injuries. Yet coming on for fellow Irishman Finlay Bealham in Dublin eight days ago represented a major step forward in the tighthead's readiness for action and he passed a late HIA to earn his start against the Western Force. Old or young, this trio will be worthy of the focus on them in Perth. Finn Russell After watching from the stands in Dublin six days on from steering Bath to the English Premiership title, the Scotland fly-half gets his opportunity to stamp his authority on a Lions tour and lay claim to the Test number 10 jersey. Russell needs to bring that feel-good factor from his Twickenham tour de force onto the field in Perth and get his backline humming. He has a livewire scrum-half in Tomos Williams to feed off and a familiar foil on his outside in international team-mate Tuipulotu while the previous knocks against him in terms of a tendency for flakiness appear to be a distant memory. Russell has the chance to confirm that opinion at Optus Stadium this morning. The Wallaby factor After a week of back and forth between the Lions and Australia boss Joe Schmidt about participation agreements and the release of international players from the host nation back to their Super Rugby franchises, Western Force will have six current national squad members in their ranks to face the tourists, including their chirpy matchday captain and scrum-half Nic White. Their presence should ensure a feisty start to the tour as they look to lay down some markers ahead of the three-Test series with the Wallabies beginning in Brisbane in three weeks.
India Gazette
3 hours ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
"I wouldn't be rushing Archer at this stage...": Former England cricketer David Gower
London [UK], June 27 (ANI): Former England cricketer David Gower has said that pacer Jofra Archer is being rushed into the Test set-up, and the team management should have seen him play three or more games for his county, Sussex, before taking him in the squad. England announced the squad for the second Test against India, starting from July 2 at Edgbaston, with pacer Archer included in the team after over four years. England is leading the five-match series 1-0 following a five-wicket win at Leeds. The 30-year-old right-arm quick returning to the England Test since February 2021 will be looking to add to his 13 Test caps at Edgbaston next week, as per an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) release. Archer has 42 wickets at an average of 31.04, with the best figures of 6/45. Archer played his first red-ball contest in more than four years earlier this week when he turned out for Sussex in their four-day match against Durham at Chester-Le-Street and showed glimpses of his best as he scored 31 with the bat and collected figures of 1/32 from 18 overs as the teams played out a draw, as per ICC. Speaking to Sky Sports News, Gower said, 'You have got to face the facts that he has been injured, he has been operated on, the elbow has been troublesome.' 'He has played one game for Sussex and when you have had a fellow with that sort of injury history, in my book, you need to watch him or see him play three or four games maybe for Sussex and see how he is getting on to make sure that the fitness levels are where they should be, that there is no reaction to bowling 20 odd overs a day.' 'There is also the adage that you don't have to change a winning side. I would not be rushing Jofra in at this stage,' he concluded. Other than that, the squad remains unchanged. England Men's Test squad for 2nd Test: Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes. Coming to the first Test match, India was put to bat first by England. Centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), skipper Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) pushed India to 471, with Ben Stokes being the leading bowler with figures of 4/66. England also delivered a fine reply with the bat, as a century from Ollie Pope (106) and fifties from Harry Brook (99) and Ben Duckett (62) pushed them to 465, giving India a slender six-run lead. Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets. India took a strong lead in the second innings, with centuries from KL Rahul (137) and Pant (118) taking them to 364. India led by 370 runs, but it was a lower-order collapse that prevented the lead from being even more massive. Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue took three wickets to stand out among bowlers. In the chase of 371 runs, England started off well with a 188-run stand between Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149). However, a few quick strikes reduced them to 253/4, placing India in a balanced spot. However, Joe Root (53*) and Jamie Smith (44*) took England home, despite two wickets each from Prasidh Krishna and took home the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)
Herald Sun
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Herald Sun
Beau Webster's DRS pain, Travis Head unlucky on day three
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australia have fought their way back into the first Test in Barbados with a trio of half-centuries to Alex Carey, Beau Webster and Travis Head. But, as has been the case throughout this Test, there was plenty happening at Bridgetown. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. FOLLOW LIVE: Australia hunt wickets late on day three SEVENTH HELL West Indies coach Daren Sammy said after day two that his team needed a 'bollocking' after dropping six catches over the first two days of the Test. The hosts practised work in the cordon before play. And yet Justin Greaves still couldn't hang onto a chance gifted by Travis Head on 21, denying Alzarri Joseph a wicket and continuing the pain for the Windies. AS PLUMB AS IT GETS The Kensington Oval pitch had been playing tricks since day one, and balls had started to keep low. Sensing that a ball would have his name on it, Head sought to attack, and did successfully, getting to 62. It was a sensible call, because that ball duly arrived, with Shamar Joseph shooting one through that trapped the left-hander stone cold in front as he lost his balance. Joseph didn't need to appeal, with Head walking off before the finger was raised. HOLDING COURT Third umpire Adrian Holdstock had been in Sammy's sights at the end of day two following a string of contentious calls that went the way of the tourists. Well there was finally some good news for the Windies on an UltraEdge front when Beau Webster departed on review with a spike showing he had nicked one down the leg side on 63. HIT THE ROOF Alex Carey played a classic punchy wicketkeeper's innings at No.7, blasting his way to 50 from just 40 balls including two sixes. The second six brought up his half-century as he danced down the wicket and launched Justin Greaves over deep mid-off and onto the roof of the Cricket West Indies hospitality building. Originally published as What you missed overnight: Travis Head undone by day three pitch, Beau Webster's DRS pain
