OTD| West Indies trashed Australia in Perth in the fifth Test of their series in 1997

In the last couple of decades, Australia has been an unconquered battleground for West Indies in Test cricket. However, they recently won a Test match at Gabba which also brought back the memories of their victory in the Perth Test in 1997 when they thrashed the Aussies. Moving ahead in this article, we will take a stroll down memory lane and look at how that match panned out. 

First Innings 

The Australians opted to bat first after winning the toss but things did not go as expected for the Kangaroos. West Indies quickly reduced Australia to 49/4 which gave the visitors an edge in the first innings. However, the hosts hit back with Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan playing crucial innings to rescue their team. Finally, Australia posted 243 runs on the board at the end of the first innings which was still a lot less than what they would have expected after winning the toss. 

West Indies also could not get a positive start as they lost a couple of wickets early in their batting stint. But Brian Lara then quickly took charge as he built a partnership with Robert Samuels to get West Indies beyond Australia’s score. Courtesy of Lara’s 132 runs the visitors ended up with 384 runs in the first innings getting a considerable lead. 

Second Innings

The second innings was all about the sheer domination of West Indies over the proceedings of the match. Australia got bundled out for 194 runs in the second innings which almost blew them out of the contest. The veteran Courtney Walsh picked up 5 wickets to decimate the Aussies and put his team on the verge of a historic victory. 

As a result of the collapse, Australia could only set a target of 54 runs for West Indies which was chased down eventually with a lot of ease. The visitors won the match by 10 wickets and Curtley Ambrose was adjudged the player of the match for his 7 wickets in a commanding victory.