Key events
West Indies 134-4 (Greaves 7, Hodge 22) Here comes Cummins again – the stats tell us he gets a wicket every 38 balls at the Gabba and he’s up to 42 balls now, so there must be a wicket coming soon.
West Indies 132-4 (Greaves 5, Hodge 22) A chance off Lyon’s first ball of the over – the ball hit the bat, then pad and ballooned up in the air, but Head couldn’t get to it in time. There’s another Marnus AppealTM (but from Steve Smith) later in the over, but it doesn’t come to anything of course.
West Indies 131-4 (Greaves 4, Hodge 22) Here comes Hazlewood again, bowling at Hodge. There’s a minor appeal for LBW in the middle of the over, but not much interest from anyone. Hodge responds with another beautiful straight drive – there are so many runs being scored down the ground today. Hazlewood fights back with the short ball, but Hodge is unbothered by it and easily ducks it.
West Indies 127-4 (Greaves 4, Hodge 18) Lyon just keeps going and on the second ball of the over, it pays off and he dismisses Athanaze. His first ball to Greaves is also very good, with some great turn that fools the new batter. On the final ball of the over, Greaves sees his opportunity and leans into the ball to send a nice cover drive to the boundary for four.
WICKET! Athanaze c Smith b Lyon 35 (West Indies 123-4)
Finally Australia get the breakthrough they wanted, finally Smith holds a catch and everyone is delighted. Lyon catches the outside edge of Athanaze’s bat and Smith swoops on it.
West Indies 123-3 (Athanaze 35, Hodge 18) The pitch gets a little bit of treatment, the groundskeepers bringing out those metal dealies they use to bang the pitch down and stop the footmarks getting too slippery. Hazlewood comes back on to bowl and immediately finds a good line to Athanaze. He’s so good at just hitting the same spot relentlessly and frustrating a batter into making a mistake. WinViz has the game at 50-50 now – it really is anyone’s game from here. This session is crucial.
West Indies 122-3 (Athanaze 34, Hodge 18) Green heads off the ground for his scheduled break from fielding. The old boys in the commentary box are seething over this – back in their day, people just got heat stroke and dehydration like proper cricketers. Lyon continues and it’s another solid over for him, just the one from it.
West Indies 121-3 (Athanaze 33, Hodge 18) Green resumes and keeps on bowling that good line and length. Another dangerous little scurry for a second run from the West Indies – if they’d paused just a little they could have been gone, but it’s good commitment from the pair to keep pushing the run rate along. Then there’s another one of those glorious drives down the ground and Hodge picks up a boundary.
West Indies 115-3 (Athanaze 33, Hodge 12) A misfield from Marsh and a poor chase gives Hodge three runs and Lyon is very unhappy about it. That might be a moment we talk about later in this game. Lyon is bowling well, getting the ball to skid on uncomfortably for the batters. Another wicket is surely not far away for him.
West Indies 111-3 (Athanaze 30, Hodge 11) Another Green over and he starts with a peach of a ball that beats the bat and just misses the inside edge. Hodge looks a bit nervy after that and it’s a big leave on the next ball to keep him safe. Almost a run out opportunity when Hodge tries to get off strike and would certainly have resulted in one of them being run out, but Athanaze sends him back.
Kenrick Riley has sent an email with his thoughts on the Smith drop:
Dear Megan
I suspect the ball Smith dropped would not have made it to Uzzie anyway — who was standing well back. So he was right to go for it. On any other day, Smith would have pouched it. Maybe fretting over opening has clouded his concentration? Not that it matters much. He might come out next knock and make 200no!
Kenrick Riley
Love the positivity Kenrick, I hope he comes good as well – I’d love to see him find success as an opener.
West Indies 109-3 (Athanaze 30, Hodge 9) A stumping attempt from the first ball of the over, but Athanaze is safely in his crease and there’s no appeal. But Lyon has got him swiping outside off and it looks exciting.
West Indies 107-3 (Athanaze 29, Hodge 8) And we’re back! It’s still 32 degrees out on the field and 69% humidity (nice). The ‘feels like’ temp has dropped slightly to 37.1 degrees, which still doesn’t sound all that pleasant. Green gets us started and Athanaze takes a single straightaway. Green continues with his good bowling today, hitting a great line and length and not offering much to the batters. It’s just the one run from the over.
Speaking of Sinclair’s celebration, I especially enjoyed Dan Liebke’s tweet yesterday about the memories it brought back for those of us who spent the early 2000s on the hill at Kogarah Oval.
Phantom sirens. Backflip celebrations. It’s like I’m watching St George-Illawarra in the NRL in the year 2000 #AUSvWI
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) January 26, 2024