Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Netball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Important SN update for SouthlandAustralia takes 1-0 lead over West Indies following dramatic finish
Nicholas Quinlan • June 28th, 2025 12:17 pm
Australia has taken a 1-0 lead in the Frank Worrell Trophy following a dramatic finish at the end of Day 3.
The Australians defeated the West Indies by 159 runs in a day which saw 16 wickets fall, ten of which came within the final session.
The day would start with Australia at 4/92 with Travis Head and Beau Webster taking the crease to begin the day.
Head and Webster started well being able to handle the irregular bounce of the pitch and scored at a steady pace to increase their lead.
However, both survived close scares throughout the early phases of the day's play.
Within the first half hour, Alzarri Joseph was convinced that he had Webster LBW on 25 but was given not out.
The crucial moment, however, proved to be the very next ball when Head was dropped on 21 by Justin Greaves at second slip. That would be their seventh dropped catch for the entire match.
And Greaves’ mistake would not go unpunished with Head adding another 40 runs onto his total before Shamar Joseph got him LBW for 61.
This would be noted as 'a pivotal moment' in the game according to Bharat Sundaresan after the game wrapped up.
“Don’t even get me started on the dropped catches,” Sundaresan said on SEN’s The New Ball.
“That was the pivotal moment today. Until that point to when Travis Head was dropped by Justin Greaves off Alzarri Joseph, Australia was only ahead by 98 runs.
“This game was on an even keel with even the West Indies having their noses slightly ahead.
“But once that catch went down, you could see that the whole momentum shift and that was that partnership between Head and Webster.”
Co-host Adam White couldn't agree more with Sundaresan.
“It was the breaking point, the seventh dropped catch was the breaking point,” he said.
“It just got to the point where it was like, ‘Oh no, not again. Another fresh day and it happened again'."
After Head’s wicket, the ever-reliable Alex Carey would continue the run making with a quickfire 65 off 75 balls, managing to help push Australia’s lead into the 200s as the game moved more and more in the visitor’s favour.
The tail end also managed to contribute and help push Australia’s lead to 300 and would ultimately set the West Indies 301 runs to chase.
That chase would only get tougher for West Indies when Mitchell Starc got Kraigg Brathwaite out in the first over.
Despite the bad start, John Campbell and Keacy Carty steadied the ship for the home team as they put on a 43-run stand to keep their team in the game.
But in the space of four overs, Josh Hazlewood turned the West Indies from 1/47 to 5/56 which removed any possible chance of the home side winning the match.
Play was extended by half an hour with the West Indies only having two wickets remaining and a result looking imminent.
However, the game would continue to roll past 6pm and would not conclude until 6:14pm local time with Nathan Lyon managing to get the wickets of Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales in the final over of the match to seal the victory.
Both teams now head to St. Georges in Grenada for the second test. The match will begin on July 4 at midnight (AEST).
SEN will continue its live broadcast of the series with its coverage available across its radio network and the SEN app.
