Draw delight for WI

In the end, five days just wasn't enough. Despite the finest efforts of Dwayne Bravo - and his best was brilliant - and a captain's innings from Chris Gayle, West Indies ran out of time to beat Australia for the first time in six years.
Draws like this might leave non-fans nonplussed, but they make cricket purists appreciate the huge workload required to win a Test.
West Indies dominated the match but lost the Frank Worrell Trophy. Australia clung on for a draw that earned them the right to keep the silverware, which has resided at Cricket Australia headquarters since Mark Taylor's men won it from Richie Richardson's side in the Caribbean in 1995. But following their three-day humiliation in Brisbane, this match was about more than the result for West Indies.
It was about pride, and about proving that they remain a dangerous Test side. They achieved that much. For Australia, the result will be a relief on one hand - they could easily have crumbled on the final day - yet a concern on the other. It's one thing to lose to India, South Africa or even England, but to go down at home to the eighth-ranked West Indies would have been unthinkable.
Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin ensured that didn't happen, batting patiently to see Australia through to 5 for 212. The target of 330 had long since become irrelevant when the pair came together half an hour after tea. Bravo, the first-innings centurion, was swinging the ball dangerously and had just picked up a pair of wickets that meant survival was the only aim for Australia.
Despite some agonisingly close moments as balls stayed low or shots lobbed into gaps, Haddin and Clarke did their job; Clarke played the role of a team leader with an unbeaten 61 and Haddin ended up on 21. Kemar Roach regularly breached the 150kph barrier, Sulieman Benn challenged with turn and bounce without adding a wicket to his five from the first innings, and Gayle set attacking fields until the very end.
West Indies entered the final session needing seven wickets for victory - an unlikely goal but one that allowed them to dream. Australia became a little nervous when Bravo delivered a brilliant first over after the break, troubling Michael Hussey on a number of occasions and finally enticing an edge behind from a ball angled across the left-hander. Six wickets to get.

Comments

বিএনপির শুদ্ধি অভিযান ২০২৫

দুর্বৃত্তদের নিয়ন্ত্রণে আনতে হিমশিম খাচ্ছে বিএনপি, শুদ্ধি অভিযান শুরু

গত ১১ মাসে ৩২৩টি রাজনৈতিক সহিংসতার ঘটনায় বিএনপি ও এর অঙ্গ সংগঠনগুলো জড়িত ছিল এবং এসব ঘটনায় অন্তত ৭৭ জন নিহত ও ৩৬৫৩ জন বিএনপি কর্মী আহত হয়েছেন।

৩ ঘণ্টা আগে