There are very few sports personalities who kick off an era of greatness, and Allan Border is one such athlete who started an era of excellence for Australian cricket when he took the reins of the Kangaroos as a captain. On this day, the Test match came to an end where he first captained Australia. The match ended in a heavy defeat but the journey of domination had started with this test match. Moving further we will recollect how the first test match panned out for Australia with Allan Border at the helm as a captain.
First Innings
Clive Lloyd, another veteran captain, won the toss for West Indies and opted to bat first. The Australians got instant success with the dismissals of Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson but could not capitalize on early successes. West Indians made a roaring comeback and posted 356 runs in the first innings courtesy of brilliant knocks from Gordon Greenidge, Larry Gomes, Clive Llyod, and Jeff Dujon.
The Australians could not overtake the total made by the West Indies and fell short by 72 runs. Kepler Wessels and Geoff Lawson put in their efforts but it was not enough for Australia as West Indies bowled supremely well. The legendary Malcolm Marshall picked up 5 wickets and put West Indies in the pole position.
Second Innings
Larry Gomes, who made a half-century in the first innings, played an unbeaten 120-run knock which strengthened West Indies’ position in the match. He was assisted by Desmond Haynes with a half-century as West Indies declared the innings with 292 runs on the board. The Australians had to chase 365 runs in the second innings to pull off a challenging victory against the mighty West Indians.
It turned out to be a shambolic performance from the Australian batting order as they got bundled out for 173 runs. Malcolm Marshal once again troubled the Australian batters picking up 5 wickets and Roger Harper joined the party as well with his 4 wickets. West Indies registered a comprehensive victory by 191 runs to get an unassailable 3-0 lead in the test series.
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