Following Australia’s 8-run defeat against West Indies in the second Test match at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins said that the hosts were not good enough.
While speaking at the post-match ceremony, Cummins said that he was disappointed with the loss but said that it was a “fantastic” match.
The Aussie skipper praised Steve Smith for his 91-run knock and said that the opener “dragged” the hosts over the line.
“Disappointment after the loss but it was a fantastic match, a fantastic series. The way Shamar bowled was right up there, unfortunately we weren’t good enough. We were pretty confident coming in today. Think we did well yesterday to restrict them to a 216-run target, thought we had a chance. Smith was fantastic, almost dragged us over the line. It’s been brilliant, the same bowling group for five Test matches in the summer is a big effort,” Cummins said.
Recapping the Test match, the Gabba fortress has been breached again as the Caribbeans clinched their first Test win on Australian soil after 27 years.
Even though Steven Smith stayed unbeaten in the second inning to score 91 runs off 146 balls, but his effort went in vain as the Aussies failed to reach the 216-run target. The fourth day of the second Test match started with Smith and Cameron Green opening for the Aussies, as the hosts stood at 60/2. However, the batters could not make a solid partnership in front of the Caribbean bowling attack.
Joseph made the first breakthrough of the day as he dismissed Green for 42 runs in the 31st over. In the same over, he removed star Aussie batter Travis Head for a duck to take an early advantage.
As the session went on Joseph displayed a lion-hearted performance and removed the Australian top order by dismissing Mitchell Marsh (10 runs from 12 balls), Alex Carey (2 runs from 5 balls), Mitchell Starc (21 runs from 14 balls), and Pat Cummins (2 runs from 8 balls) within 43rd over.
Alzarri Joseph picked his first wicket of the day after removing Nathan Lyon (9 runs from 20 balls) in the 48th over. The West Indies bowling attack dominated the first session from the very first and in the last the 24-year-old picked his seventh wicket by dismissing Josh Hazlewood in the 51st over.
Nobody believed that Joseph would make such a comeback after suffering an injury on his toe. However, He ended the second inning with fiery figures of 7/68 and was also named the ‘Player of the Match’.
(Source – ANI)