Hope, Chase dig in against Aussie quicks at Bridgetown
Two West Indies' captains have dug in to make life difficult for Australia on the second morning of the opening Test in Bridgetown.
Test skipper Roston Chase and white-ball leader Shai Hope guided the hosts to within 45 runs of the Australians' first-innings total of 180 as the battling WIndies went to lunch on Thursday on 5-135.
Only one wicket fell in what proved a surprisingly comfortable morning for the home batters at the Kensington Oval when Brandon King was bowled by Josh Hazlewood for 26, misjudging the veteran quick's delivery as he shouldered arms.
Having started the day at 4-57, the West Indies otherwise showed real resolve as Hope reached 31no and Chase was unbeaten on 44 off 101 balls at the lunch break, the pair having put on a crucial unbroken partnership of 63 for the sixth wicket.
What must have felt alarming for the Australians, though, was the relative ease with which the hosts negotiated what had promised to be a torrid morning as Hope, making his return to the Test side for the first time since November 2021, looked in charge from his first ball.
His assured quality seemed to rub off on Chase as the pair weathered a probing spell of short-pitched stuff, largely from Hazlewood (2-23) and Cummins (1-21) before neither Nathan Lyon nor part-timer Beau Webster could grab a breakthrough with the skipper smacking the Aussies' premier spinner for an off-driven six.
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