West Indies debutant Shamar Joseph had a great outing with the bat and ball on the first day of the first test match at Adelaide Oval on 17th January 2024. Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to field first. West Indies lost two early wickets of Tangerine Chanderpaul and captain Kraigg Braithwaite.
Kirk McKenzie looked impressive with some lovely shots putting pressure on the Aussies’ bowling. West Indies’ inexperience in batting struggled after the lunch break and lost wickets at regular intervals.
The left-handed Shamar Joseph came to the crease with West Indies struggling at 133 for 9. Joseph showed intent in putting pressure on Australian bowlers against Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and company. He made sure that Joseph kept the momentum going for West Indies.
The tea break was extended to half an hour but Shamrah Joseph looked impressive and showed his class with an attacking mindset. West Indies went into the tea break at 177 for 9.
FIRST BALL!
Shamar Joseph gets Steve Smith with his first ball in Tests! #OhWhatAFeeling | @Toyota_Aus | #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/XLelMqZHrG
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 17, 2024
After the tea break, Joseph continued his positive approach before Nathan Lyon dismissed him for well-made 36. He along with Kemar Roach put on 55 runs for the final wicket as West Indies could only post 188 in their first innings. During his innings of 36, Joseph smashed 3 boundaries and 1 big six. West Indies’ top scorer was Kirk McKenzie as Cummins and Hazlewood took 4 wickets each while Lyon and Starc grabbed 1 wicket each.
Usman Khawaja came to open the innings along with Steve Smith. Khawaja was given a reprieve as Joshua Da Silva dropped a sitter. Shamrah Joseph got the big scalp of Steve Smith in his first delivery with a lovely catch by Justin Greaves. Marnus Labuschagne and Khawaja struggled against disciplined West Indies bowling.
Shamar Joseph produced a lovely delivery that extracted bounce getting rid of Labuschagne by Gudakesh Motie to put stage fightback for West Indies. Joseph put enough pressure on Khawaja and Green not allowing them to score runs easily. He ended the first day with figures of 2 for 18 in 6 overs.
His bowling had a lot of movement that troubled the Australian bowling. Australia ended the first day on 59 for 2 and still trailed by 129 runs.
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