Australia beat West Indies by 177 runs to take unassailable 2-0 lead
29 December,Melbourne (CRICKETNMORE) - Australia comfortably beat West Indies by 177 runs on day four of the second Test in Melbourne to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead. Chasing the victory target of 460, West Indian wickets fell regularly. The 100 run partnership between Denesh Ramdin (59) and Jason Holder (68) just reduced the margin of defeat. Mitchell Marsh, who finished with 4-61, dismissed both men as the Windies lost their last five wickets for 32 runs.
Venue : Melbourne Cricket Ground
Toss : West Indies won the toss and opt to bowl
1st Innings - Australia, 551/3(decl) in 135 Overs (Usman Khawaja 144, Steven Smith 134*, Joe Burns 128, Adam Voges 106*, Jerome Taylor (2/97)
2nd Innings - West Indies, 271/10 in 100.3 Overs ( Darren Bravo 81, Carlos Brathwaite 59, Nathan Lyon 4/66, James Pattinson 4/72)
3rd Innings - Australia, 179/3 (decl) in 32 Overs (Steven Smith 70*, Usman Khawaja 56, Jason Holder 2/49)
4th Innings - West Indies, 282/10 in 88.3 Overs ( Jason Holder 68, Denesh Ramdin (59), Mitchell Marsh 4/61, Nathan Lyon 3/85)
Man of the Match : Nathan Lyon for his match figures of 7/151.
Smith: "We made it a bit difficult for ourselves. We kept overstepping and had to take 23 wickets instead of 20. Mitchell Marsh was brilliant today. He charged in and got the ball reversing for us and reaped the rewards towards the end. He (Khawaja) is playing beautifully, isn't he? He is doing extremely well and hopefully he can continue doing that. He (Lyon) is bowling extremely well and hopefully he continue doing that for a long time. We want to wrap up the series 3-0, but the West Indies came hard at us here and we should be prepared at Sydney."
Holder: "We showed some fight. Some of the guys came out and played themselves in. Credit to the way Australia played. Hopefully the guys can continue in the same way in the last Test match. We had to keep wickets in hand and occupy the crease. Me and Ramdin were thinking about batting through the day and taking it from there. Carlos (Brathwaite) came in and played well, he had the energy and it was nice to see him go. We just need to keep that belief and keep pushing Australia."
Teams (Playing XI)
Australia : David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon
West Indies : Kraigg Brathwaite, Rajendra Chandrika, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican.